Suella Braverman fears immigration will INCREASE if Liz Truss signs trade deal with India
- Home Secretary said that Brexiteers did not vote for open borders policy
- She claimed that overstayers from India already pose a problem
- Braverman said UK must limit new arrivals and wants jobs filled by UK workers
- But Prime Minister Liz Truss is seeking a trade deal with India within months
Suella Braverman has opened up a rift with Liz Truss by warning her against signing a trade deal with India that would increase immigration.
The Home Secretary said that Brexiteers did not vote for an open borders policy with India and claimed that visa overstayers from the subcontinent already pose a problem.
She said the UK must limit new arrivals, and wants job vacancies filled by older workers from the UK.
The Prime Minister is seeking a trade deal with India within months, and wants to lift the cap on seasonal agricultural workers and broadband engineers.
The Home Secretary, pictured, said that Brexiteers did not vote for an open borders policy with India and claimed that visa overstayers from the subcontinent already pose a problem
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But Mrs Braverman told The Spectator: 'I have concerns about having an open borders migration policy with India.'
She acknowledged 'there may be flexibility for students and entrepreneurs' but went on: 'I do have some reservations. Look at migration in this country - the largest group of people who overstay are Indian migrants.
'We even reached an agreement with the Indian government last year to encourage and facilitate better co-operation in this regard. It has not necessarily worked very well.' She reiterated her ambition to cut net migration, as promised in the EU referendum as well as the Tories' last election manifesto.
The Prime Minister is seeking a trade deal with India within months, and wants to lift the cap on seasonal agricultural workers and broadband engineers
'We have new visa routes and the power to control who we want to come to the country. I think we should start exercising that power.' The Home Secretary said she disputed claims that immigration must be relaxed to fill more than 1million job vacancies, pointing out that more than 5m Britons are on out-of-work benefits.
'I cannot believe that there are labour shortages that cannot be filled by starting with that pool of people.' She claimed too many people were 'choosing early retirement' or 'choosing to work part-time and top up their income through tax credits'.
But she also had a tough message for bosses, saying: 'Ultimately, paying more is going to be the way you get people to take up these jobs. That's going to be where we go: with a high-wage, high-skilled economy. Employers need to pay their workers.'
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