Govt retreats from human rights and hardens on migration
Govt retreats from human rights and hardens on migration
News brief - 21/02/20 View this email in your browser
Govt retreats from human rights and hardens on migration
It has been an illuminating week for those waiting for the Johnson administration to reveal its character. Many column inches have already been devoted to Home Secretary, Priti Patel's, plans for a new points-based immigration policy, which will grant visas to workers who have already secured work in the UK at a minium salary of £25,600 and who meet requirements around skills, qualifications and spoken English. Under the proposals, which would apply from 01 January 2021, no self-employed migrants would be allowed entry. Exceptions would be made in the case of highly skilled scientists, engineers and academics - who may be able to migrate without already having a job offer; people whose skills would fill a shortage (e.g. nurses) - who would be able to enter on a salary at and above £20,480; and temporary workers employed in the UK agricultural sector - who would be able to work for six months. Indeed, the government has quadrupled the number of agricultural workers allowed to migrate to the UK on short-term visas from 2,500 to 10,000.
Also, much covered in the mainstream press are Patel's plans for the vacancies that would have been filled by migrant workers: businesses, she says, must upskill the UK's "economically inactive" population, which she claims accounts for around 20% of working age people. However, of those classified as "economically inactive", the majority are students, disabled, sick or caring for relatives. Fewer than 0.5% are described as "discouraged workers" - the group most likely to be persuaded back into employment.
But beneath the noise made by the government's immigration announcements are other concerning signs of a lurch to the right. Answering questions posed by Labour's Geraint Davies in Parliament, Solicitor General, Michael Ellis, refused to rule out the possibility that the UK will withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights. Concerns have been raised that the government's unclear position on human rights standards may be linked to Johnson's determination to "review" the role of the judiciary - a plan that emerged after the Supreme Court ruled last year's prorogation of Parliament unlawful. But there are also fears that the UK would need to withdraw from the Convention in order to fulfil its plans to reform the Human Rights Act in such a way as to prevent the investigation of the British Army's conduct in Ireland during the Troubles.
Elsewhere, Downing Street failed to set a good example on employment rights when Dominic Cummings had a sacked aide bundled out of the workplace by armed police (she is now claiming for unfair dismissal), the number of workers on zero-hours contracts has hit a record high, and a leaked email reveals uncertainty around the Prime Minister's election promise for 50,000 new nurses.
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