Immigration: will new changes be worth it?
Immigration, historically ,has been a controversial subject with many in the Conservative Party and on the wider political spectrum. Whilst previous Prime Ministers have been bound by the European Union and internal politics, Boris Johnson and Priti Patel have broken the mould and managed to reform it.
Put simply the new system is based around merit. The points-based system will always judge people on what they would bring to the United Kingdom. By introducing requirements of speaking English, A Level Education (or equivalent) and a minimum salary of £25,600 she has ensured that all immigrants meet the same standard when entering the UK. A signficant critique of Freedom of Movement was that a European Citizen had an easier route into the United Kingdom than any other citizen. Hence, they were given an unfair advantage and bias upon entering the UK. It is understandable the frustration many immigrants from Asia, Africa and the Americas felt at this; personally, as a second-generation Indian immigrant I too felt frustrated at this policy. Therefore, this new system has managed to introduce a newfound equality between all ethnicities into our system.
However, the more signficant justification I belived is the return to meritocracy. The new immigration system does not judge someone based on their ethnicity but on an individual’s value. This is the simple premise of meritocracy. We should be proud as a nation to return to these values; these values are the basis of Liberal idelogy but more recently Margret Thatcher and other neo-liberals reintroduced these into the Conservative Party. She and other Prime Minsters like John Major and Theresa May are examples of this in the party. This part of liberal ideology has been widely adopted into the party and hence it seems natural for the party to being to extend values into policies such as immigration.
But why is meritocracy so important? Personally, meritocracy is crucial for me- as those at Woking Cons know I love it! Because simply you should be rewarded for your skills, it is logical. Those who are best for the job or best for the task should be given it, regardless of any social or economic class. Yet often within the party and within society we have lost this. So personally, I am delighted that Priti Patel has finally introduced this system.
Another signficant part of our new system is the idea of filling shortages. One of the ways to gain your “points” is that if you have an offer for a job in an industry where there is a shortage. Practically if we cannot fill our employment, we should use immigrants to fill them. It is practical for our economy to be able to fill jobs, but it is also fair. Precedence should be given to British Citizens and then immigrants; this is the simple narrative of a government which prioritises its citizens. It does not mean we reject internationalism or other powers we simply do what all successful nations like USA, Russia and China do- be selfish. This practical system is something which should be again we should be very pleased and proud of.
I am not going to deny the frustrations I have over the focus on STEM subjects- you must have a PhD in STEM subjects for it be worth “points.” This is disappointing because simply we are undervaluing the skills you gain in humanities, social sciences and languages. We still need people who are specialised in these skills in our country- there needs to be more consideration of this.
Furthermore, I think we should not be deterred by the media who will inevitably fly around sob stories. They will tell us that this is unfair on millions of people. We need to see the long-term impacts of this system. We need an oppurtunity to let it run and see it truly show its colours. So, I would urge everyone when judging this system- give it a year because then you will see what it can do!
Omeet Atara
"Priti Patel Covid-19 Press Conference 25/04" by UK Prime Ministeris licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0