Birmingham: The Tory government is shutting the UK's doors to international students and foreign workers, announcing a harsh new policy to prevent overseas workers from "taking jobs British people could do".
In moves that could affect Australians wanting to live, work and study in the UK, the Conservative government says students and skilled workers, foreign taxi drivers and Europeans convicted of minor crimes would all be targeted as part of a tough new stance aimed at reducing the number of migrants to the UK to the "tens of thousands" post-Brexit.
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UK cracks down on migrant workers and students
Foreign workers and students and Europeans convicted of minor crimes will be targeted under the Tories' strict new measures to curb net migration, says Home Secretary Amber Rudd.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd announced the harsh crackdown on day three of the Tory conference in Birmingham – just one day after pouring cold water on the Australian government's hopes for easier access for Australians wanting to live and work in the UK.
Mrs Rudd said the crackdown would extend to landlords and banks, with homeowners jailed if convicted of knowingly renting out properties to illegal immigrants. Banks would be forced to conduct more checks to ensure their customers were not living in the country illegally.
From December, anyone wanting to drive a taxi would be subject to a mandatory immigration check under the measures, which Mrs Rudd said were aimed at ensuring Britain continued to attract the "brightest and best".
Mrs Rudd was a prominent campaigner for the defeated Remain side, but was promoted when Theresa May moved from Home Secretary to Prime Minister.
Tory delegates groaned when Mrs Rudd reminded them she was on the Remain side, but applauded her when she said: "I absolutely accept the result".
"There can be no question that recent levels of immigration motivated a large part of the vote," she said.
She vowed to reduce net migration, which was 300,000 in 2016 and well over the government's target of 100,000, to the "tens of thousands".
Net migration from EU countries is 184,000, which is just short of the total for the 188,000 migrants from non-EU countries combined.
Mrs Rudd said it would not be possible to reach this target by curbing EU migration alone once Britain had formally exited the union.
"We have to look at all sources of immigration if we mean business," she said.
Australian skilled workers and university students are potentially in the firing line with the government to examine whether it should "tighten the test" for companies who recruit from abroad.
"It's become a tick box exercise, allowing some firms to get away with not training local people. We won't win in the world if we don't do more to upskill our own workforce," she said.
She described as "generous" current rules allowing the families of international students working rights and bemoaned that foreign students studying English language degrees "don't even have to be proficient in speaking English".
Europeans convicted of repeatedly committing minor crimes would be deported under new legislation, which would forbid them from re-entering the country for up to 10 years.
The plans drew condemnation from the Labour opposition, employer groups and the academia.
Josh Hardie from CBI, an organisation representing 190,000 businesses, said the sector would not welcome further restrictions on high skilled migration from key trading partners.
"At a time when we need strong links globally to seize new opportunities after the referendum, being seen as open to the best and brightest is vital," he said.
Further he said the British government must "tread carefully" when targeting international students.
"The UK's universities are a crown jewel in supporting innovation, growth and skills development," he said.
"The government must tread carefully on any changes to student immigration to make sure we don't undermine this critical sector for national prosperity."
Tim Thomas from EEF, an organisation representing British manufacturers, said Britain would lose out in the fierce global competition for talent.
"Instead of preventing employers from recruiting globally, the government should be opening up the talent pool and putting a stop to the impending changes to highly skilled non-EU migration," he said.
Seamus Nevin from the Institute of Directors said voters had not elected to weaken the economy when they opted out of the EU.
"The UK has a record level of employment, so immigration is not hurting jobs," he said.
"It was frustrating to hear the Home Secretary sticking to the arbitrary 'tens of thousands' target, which has no connection to the skills the UK needs or the actual impacts of migration.
"The Home Office also must not try to make employers do the work of government. Small companies do not have the expertise or know-how to vet immigration applications.
"There are different ways to control immigration, and we should see Brexit as a chance to design a system which addresses local concerns, without damaging business or universities."
The Opposition Labour Shadow Home Secretary Andy Burnham said Mrs Rudd's speech bore the hallmarks of her predecessor, but he did not criticise any particular measure.
"It sounded like the Prime Minister [Theresa May] had a heavy hand in drafting the Home Secretary's speech," he said.
"We've heard these conference promises on net migration and child migrants before and they haven't come to anything – people will take them with a pinch of salt.
"On Theresa May's watch, net migration reached record levels."