Are we cleverly curbing migration or our economy growth?

It is apparent that the Tories are desperate bid to stay in power as the election is anticipated to take place as early as next Autumn. Historically, the United Kingdom started welcoming migrants in 1945 post-World War II to rebuild the country and fill in gaps where there are labour shortages to meet economic needs.

Although we started off with an exclusionary approach towards migrants, all would agree that today, Great Britain is much more ethically diverse and less segregated than before. However, just like any country on earth, we shut doors to outsiders once the gap is filled, or rather the needs of the job market are met.

So, the day before on 4th December 2023, the Home Office has proposed an extraordinarily high threshold on salary levels at £38,700 (current median average annual salary of a full-time UK worker is £34,963) to hopefully bring down migrant figures by 300,000 next year. With the threshold applied horizontally across all sectors, together with plans to exclude the migrants’ loved ones, inevitably we see migrants of many migrants turned away, especially the healthcare, agricultural and hospitality sectors which are already suffering from serious staff shortages.

On the same day, the news on Department on Work and Pensions claimed that civil servants are overwhelmed by “unbearable” workloads due to “improper” staffing levels, revealed in a dossier which relies on 50 testimonies from officials.

In all honesty, has anyone in the country seen a housekeeper or a farmer paid £38,700 every year? I desperately hope someone comes and says “yes” as I would miss my jacket potatoes dearly for Christmas next year if we cleverly fail on excluding the farmers.