According to the most recent official figures released on Thursday, the shield movement to the UK halved to 431,000 citizens in 2024, fueled by stricter work and study visa requirements. The figure for the year was 431, 000, down from 860, 000 in the year until December 2023, the largest net migration decline since the Covid pandemic, according to the Office for National Statistics ( ONS ). In its most recent report, the ONS reported that” we are seeing cuts in people coming on job- and study-related visas.”” Long-term net migration is down by about 50 %,” the ONS said. Additionally, it had reported” an increase in immigration over the twelve months to December 2024,” particularly among those with work and study visa. The past Conservative government had stricter requirements for those who applied for such permits, enforcing higher salaries and denying people who brought their families with them. However, emigration has become a contentious topic in British politics, and Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced challenging new immigration laws earlier this month, promising to “finally take back control” of Britain’s edges. The measures included reducing the number of international attention workers, doubling the time it takes for immigrants to be settled, and new authority to deport unusual criminals. Following the recent victories of the anti-immigration Transformation party in local elections, Starmer, a former human right lawyer who voted for the UK to stay a member of the EU, is under renewed pressure to address immigration.
