The Conservative government and a senior member of the Labour Party have tonight voiced their support for moving the Immigration Bill onto its next stage in Parliament.
The Bill, put forward by wildly unpopular Home Secretary Priti Patel, would effectively ban unskilled migrants earning less than £25,600 from coming to the UK – which could stop foreign care workers, refuse workers and vegetable pickers who have shown their heroics during the current coronavirus crisis from coming to the country.
But despite the potentially devastating impact of the legislation on frontline services and communities across the country, Labour grandee and former Cabinet minister Yvette Cooper MP sensationally refused to oppose the Bill, saying that she wanted to “find areas of agreement” and “find a positive way forward” for the measures.
Home Secretary Priti Patel is known for her support of the death penalty and her opposition to same-sex marriage, while also resigning in disgrace from her previous Cabinet role in 2017 due to holding secret meetings with a foreign government without the knowledge of then-Prime Minister Theresa May. Eyebrows will be raised at Labour MPs voicing tentative support for her measures tonight.
A Liberal Democrat source said that “this Bill fails to consider what this country needs from its immigration system, particularly in light of the coronavirus crisis.”
“With the crisis in care homes reaching unprecedented levels, you would have thought Labour and the Tories would be concerned about protecting frontline care workers and their families, many of whom are migrants, rather than trying their hardest to stop them coming here in the future.”