Conservative commitments - 33, 27 failures

Cap the level of skilled migration from outside the EU at 20,700

Why would we do this? What reason could there ever be for imposing such a tiny limit on skilled workers? This is here because the Conservatives have an overall migration target and skilled workers from outside the EU are an easy target. Sadly, they’re precisely the people we do want to be filling any migration quota we impose. Even people who are concerned about immigration are not too concerned about highly skilled doctors, nurses, engineers and others sharing their knowledge and expertise.

Universities are already struggling with recruitment as VISA restrictions hit. We can’t be internationally competitive in research, which is a Conservative aspiration, if we refuse the best people entry. There are other concerns as well, such as splitting families apart with arbitrary income thresholds.

242,000 skilled migrants came to the UK in 2013, of whom 94,000 were not from the EU. The numbers from the EU have increased as the numbers from the rest of the world have dropped. This is apparently Conservative policy: replace Commonwealth citizens, or international job recruitment, with European citizens who already have the right to come here and come in greater numbers when we keep out other people.

Despite already having no formal route for unskilled migration from outside the EU, we received 107,000 such migrants between 2010 and 2014 (although some might have been skilled migrants in low-skill jobs). If we get 27,000 a year with no cap at all, it seems that the Conservative plans to cap skilled migration at 20,700 will simply ensure that most foreigners in the country will be unskilled (skilled workers are more likely to obey laws and try formal migration procedures). That will help cultivate xenophobia, which will benefit the Conservatives.

This policy will be a disaster and will negate much of the investment promised elsewhere. Yet again, it is all about seeming to be tough on migration rather than working out what parts of migration matter, whether we want to be tough at all and whether there will be side effects. As well as the indirect negation of other investment, and the big effect on our international reputation, we have already seen a 40% drop in a £5 bn market, giving us a direct hit to the economy of £2bn.