UK immigration – a conscious choice

Under pressure from the ‘Reform’ party the current government is bringing in a series of measures to reduce immigration. Net immigration to the UK in 2023 was something like 900,000, falling to 728,000 in 2024! [1] I have not studied the current measures in detail. At first glance they look like tweaks to the system primarily designed to grab headlines; but there may be some effect. We will see.

Immigration is probably the number one political topic in electoral politics in the UK. For years elites have been running a wide open immigration policy. Finally, after electoral successes of what the liberal media describe as “far-right populist parties” immigration has become a legitimate political question.

The aim of allowing mass immigration is absolutely simple. It is about increasing the availability of labour. In a free-market for labour it is in the interests of the people hiring labour, (the capitalists), to have an unlimited supply of labour. This keeps labour costs down, productivity rates up and thus profits up. It is this simple. Notice how, even when proposing one of their tweaks, the present government is absolutely keen to make sure that “economic growth” is not impacted: “decisive action to restore control and order to the immigration system, raise domestic training and skills, and bring down net migration while promoting economic growth” [2] (As a side note the Minister Yvette Cooper was a notorious “second home flipper” – a practice whereby MPs milked the expenses system to pay for their private housing). [3]

“Economic growth” simply means maxing out overall GDP. For those whose income is based on a percentage take of overall GDP this is a very rational aim. For workers, who live off fixed wages, and who may be in competition with immigrant labour, the logic is not necessarily the same. Open immigration always favours those who hire labour – capitalists. It may, in some cases, benefit workers, but the effect is indirect, and there will be many cases where the immediate effect of labour competition is not beneficial for workers.

One of the major routes for immigrant labour into the UK is the Health and Care Worker Visa. [4] According to the Guardian article there are currently 70,000 foreign workers in this sector – in the Care sector alone if I understand the figure correctly. Until March 2024 immigrant workers in this sector could bring their partners and children with them. The partners could work and could apply for permanent residency. This part has been stopped but not retrospectively; care workers whose Visa was issued before March 2024 can still bring their partners and children with them.

The question is in fact touched on in comments made by the former home-flipping Minister about the new regulations, though these seem to apply to general work visas, not the care worker visa. The question is: why are workers in the country already, that is British citizens, not taking these 70,000 care jobs? The answer is, again, quite simple; the pay is low, just a little above the minimum wage, and the work is quite hard. There are, (approximately), 1.5 million unemployed Britain’s and, a further, staggering, 9.5 million working age Britons who are inactive; many because they are “disabled” or “long-term sick”. The gap between unemployment benefits and the income from a minimum wage job is tiny. If you can wrangle your way onto disability benefits, which is not hard, then you will almost certainly be much better off on those, than working in a minimum wage job; you will get the same or greater income, plus perks, and you do not have to work at all, leaving you free to pursue hobbies, study, work in the black economy etc. (Of course; many people on disability benefits are so because they have genuine conditions. That does not mean that everyone does).

There is no point lecturing people on the “morality” of working at the same time as touting as the key principle of your economy and society the principle of everyone maximising their personal advantage. People who choose to be on benefits rather than take a low-paid care job are simply applying this principle; the same one which justifies the free-market itself. They are rationally maximising their personal utility.

The elites, that is the capitalist class and their political enablers, have simply figured that to keep wage costs low they need to have a policy of mass immigration. If there was no mass immigration, for example, if there was simply no such thing as a Health and Care Worker Visa, then the market would be forced to offer much higher pay, to attract local workers. As well as higher pay, employers would probably need to take other steps to make these jobs attractive, such as raising their status, offering training and a real career path. In turn, this would effect their profits. Why do US Equity companies buy up UK care companies? Precisely because the model of places paid for by government at attractive rates, (local councils do not have robust business negotiating skills as a rule), while staff costs are kept low by mass immigration makes them extremely profitable to run. The mass immigration policy in these cases is primarily benefiting US Equity companies.

Of course; this question touches on other aspects of modern UK society. Why are so many people in care homes? In particular; old people. That itself reflects some kind of social fragmentation. Ultimately, the questions are all linked. Too much focus on money.

The alternative? The alternative in the Care Sector, would be for all provision to be directly controlled by the state, thus taking the question of profit out of it, (Beyond the need to be viable). And, instead, of basing the workforce on cheap immigrant labour, increasing the pay and improving the conditions to the level necessary to attract local labour. This would solve the problem of provision of “Care”. But it would cut off a very useful flow of profits, (at least some of which – I don’t have figures right now, but see [5] for an idea of the scale of the problem), go to US Equity companies. So; it won’t happen given that the current determining model of UK economy and thus society is maximising opportunities for profit return on capital and especially profits available for US investors. Without challenging this model all the government can do is try to find tweaks to the Visa system which will not have any impact on “growth”.

Update

It has been announced that the Minister is considering cancelling the Health and Care Worker Visa for new applicants, telling providers to hire from the existing pool of people already in the country on this Visa. (Apparently; there are some who are not currently employed because no work materialised for them once they got into the country. Others can be rehires). This plan has gone into a White Paper, (forward plan for legislation). So; we will see. If the change was made, it would be a significant change; cancelling future issuing of a while Visa category. Though, so many of these visas have been issued (31,800 in 2021 to 145,823 in 2023 and 27,174 in 2024) [6] that one imagines there really is a substantial body of these people already available. Apparently; the drop was due to tightening up of abuses of the scheme. It may be that the Minister is thinking that the numbers are dropping anyway.

Notes

UK immigration – a conscious choice

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