Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

UK lowers the salary cap to settle in the country to £25,600; removes net migration targets

THE UK has lowered the salary threshold to settle in the country to £25,600 for skilled migrants from £35,800 under the new rules for Boris Johnson's points-based immigration system effective on December 1.

Unskilled migrants on salaries of just £20,480 but with enough points to be allowed into the UK to plug gaps in jobs where there is a shortage of workers, will also be entitled to settle in Britain after six years and become citizens.


Under the current system, introduced by then home secretary Theresa May in 2011, migrant workers have had to leave the UK after six years unless they earned £35,800 a year.

Besides, the government ditched net migration targets under the new scheme, reported The Telegraph.

Rob McNeill, deputy director of Oxford University's Migration Observatory described the new rules as "the final nail in the coffin of the net migration target".

However, critics claimed that the change had been "sneaked in" without consultation and had bypassed scrutiny as part of the points-based immigration bill.

According to Alp Mehmet, chairman of Migration Watch UK, the change will weaken immigration control further.

"It will also reduce the incentive for employers to train British workers. To make matters worse, these major changes are being sneaked in through the back door with scant detail and a lack of advance warning," he told The Telegraph. 

"We have changed the salary threshold required for settlement from £35,800 to either the general level – £25,600 – or the going rate for the individual's profession, whichever is higher," said a home office spokesman.

The new post-Brexit points-based immigration system will end unskilled migration to the UK unless for a stipulated shortage job but lifts the cap on skilled workers to from both the EU and rest of the world.

More For You

JLR-Tata-Getty

JLR had initially planned to manufacture more than 70,000 electric vehicles at the facility. (Photo: Getty Images)

JLR halts plan to build EVs at Tata’s India plant: Report

JAGUAR LAND ROVER (JLR) has put on hold plans to manufacture electric vehicles at Tata Motors’ upcoming £775 million factory in southern India, according to a news report.

The decision was influenced by challenges in balancing price and quality for locally sourced EV components, three of the sources said. They added that slowing demand for electric vehicles was also a factor.

Keep ReadingShow less
Leicester drug supplier Sarju Khushal jailed for 11 years over £2m operation

Sarju Khushal

Leicester drug supplier Sarju Khushal jailed for 11 years over £2m operation

A MAN who supplied controlled drugs on a ‘wholesale’ scale across Leicestershire has been sentenced to 11 years in prison. Sarju Khushal, 30, was arrested in 2022 after investigations revealed he had been transporting drugs from Lancashire into the area.

Khushal, formerly of Hazeldene Road, Leicester, pleaded guilty to several charges, including the supply and conspiracy to supply class A drugs. He was sentenced at Leicester crown court last Thursday (6).

Keep ReadingShow less
Tamil Nadu Education

Tamil, one of the oldest living languages in the world, is a source of pride for the state’s people

Getty images

Education or imposition? Tamil Nadu battles India government over Hindi in schools

A war of words has erupted between Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister MK Stalin and the federal government over the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which recommends a three-language formula in schools, with two of the three being native to India. Stalin has voiced strong objections, claiming that the policy could lead to the imposition of Hindi, a northern Indian language, in non-Hindi-speaking states like Tamil Nadu. The issue has reignited old tensions between southern states and the central government over the privileging of Hindi.

Historical resistance to Hindi

Tamil Nadu has a deep-rooted history of opposing the promotion of Hindi, dating back to the 1960s. Protests broke out in the state when the federal government attempted to make Hindi the sole official language, leading to a compromise that allowed the continued use of English. Language in Tamil Nadu is not merely a means of communication but a powerful symbol of cultural identity. Tamil, one of the oldest living languages in the world, is a source of pride for the state’s people. As a result, any perceived threat to its prominence is met with strong resistance.

Keep ReadingShow less
Former Bristol MP Thangam Debbonaire enters House of Lords as Baroness

Thangam Debbonaire

Former Bristol MP Thangam Debbonaire enters House of Lords as Baroness

FORMER Bristol MP Thangam Debbonaire has taken her seat in the House of Lords after being awarded a life peerage last month.

The 58-year-old, who represented Bristol West for Labour from 2015 until July’s general election, wore the traditional scarlet robes during her introductory ceremony. She will now be known as Baroness Debbonaire of De Beauvoir Town in the London Borough of Hackney.

Keep ReadingShow less