Showing his true colours now
Rishi Sunak has said that generous visa rules make Britain the “best country in the world” for businesses, risking a fresh migration row with Tory MPs.
The Prime Minister said that the country does not “have a monopoly on talent” and that liberal border restrictions, especially for graduates, were essential for economic growth.
His remarks come amid anger from Conservative MPs about
record levels of net migration, which is estimated to have hit 745,000 in the year to last December.
They also risk sparking a Cabinet rift with Kemi Badenoch, the Business and Trade Secretary, who insisted on Monday morning that she would push for “the strongest measures possible” to bring down net migration.
Mr Sunak praised the contribution of immigrants to Britain’s economy
during a speech to the UK’s second Global Investment Summit, held at Hampton Court Palace on Monday.
‘Skilled international talent’
He told assembled business leaders: “In the end the greatest asset to any economy is its people and that’s the UK’s first competitive advantage.
“But we don’t have a monopoly on talent in this country and we recognise that nearly half of our most innovative companies have an immigrant founder.
“So if you’re an innovator, an entrepreneur, a researcher, you should know that the most competitive visa regime for highly skilled international talent is right here in the UK.”
Mr Sunak praised a new “high potential individual visa”, which allows graduates from global top 50 universities to move to Britain with their families for a two-year period.