Have concerns about open borders migration policy with India: UK home secretary
UK home secretary Suella Braverman said she had concerns about an open borders migration policy with India because she didn’t think that’s what people voted for with Brexit
UK home secretary Suella Braverman has expressed “reservations” about a trade deal being negotiated by Britain and India on the grounds that it could increase immigration to the UK and go against the goals of Brexit.
The remarks by the Indian-origin Braverman in an interview with The Spectator magazine come against the backdrop of UK Prime Minister Liz Truss asking British officials and negotiators to stick to the Diwali deadline for concluding the free trade agreement.
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According to The Spectator, Braverman didn’t sound thrilled that Truss wants the ambitious trade deal with India and is prepared to include migration in it.
“I have concerns about having an open borders migration policy with India because I don’t think that’s what people voted for with Brexit,” she said.
There may be flexibility for students and entrepreneurs, she said. “But I do have some reservations. Look at migration in this country – the largest group of people who overstay are Indian migrants,” she added.
Braverman also said that an agreement reached with the Indian government last year by her predecessor Priti Patel to “encourage and facilitate better cooperation” on people who overstay their visas “has not necessarily worked very well”.
She said she campaigned to leave the European Union (EU) because “in part I wanted migration to fall”. She added: “That was in our 2019 manifesto. If you look at net migration figures, they have not fallen – we’re pretty much at the same level as pre-Brexit.”
Braverman said she intends to use “levers” put in place by Patel and former UK prime minister Boris Johnson, such as the points-based system and new visa routes, to “control who we want to come to the country”.
According to UK home office statistics, 20,706 Indians overstayed their visas in 2020, higher than people from any other country.
The Diwali deadline for concluding the trade deal was set by Johnson and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The negotiations were launched when Truss was the secretary of state for international trade.
People familiar with the matter said that the mobility of professionals and students is one of the key issues under the trade deal that is yet to be finalised by the two sides.
