Will promote skilled immigration, tackle illegal migration, says Rishi Sunak

The U.K. “will not pursue any relationship with Europe that relies on alignment with EU laws” under his leadership, Mr. Sunak said.

London

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, on November 21, 2022, backed highly skilled migration to the U.K. while saying he would tackle illegal migration. The Prime Minister also ruled out any relationship with the European Union (EU), which involved a harmonisation of laws, as was the case before Britain exited the bloc.

Focussing largely on the theme of innovation in his address to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) at its annual conference in Birmingham, Mr. Sunak said that to make the U.K. “ a true island of innovation” it would need to “attract the best and the brightest from around the world”.

“So we will unapologetically create one of the world’s most attractive visa regimes for entrepreneurs and highly skilled people,” he said, citing as an example, the field of artificial intelligence (AI), which, he said was not a new technology alone but a “general purpose” technology with wide ranging impact like the microchip or the steam engine.

“So we cannot allow the world’s top AI talent to be drawn to America or China,” Mr. Sunak said.

“Part of the reason we ended the free movement of labour was to rebuild public consent in our immigration system, “ the Prime Minister said, adding that the British government needed to do more to build trust and confidence in the system. “ That means tackling illegal migration. And that’s what I’m determined to do,” he said.

Mr. Sunak is a supporter of the controversial Rwanda policy instituted during the Boris Johnson government. Under this policy, certain asylum seekers, many of whom reach the UK on boats via the English Channel are relocated to Rwanda .