The UK home secretary Suella Braverman expressed reservations about the UK-India Free Trade Agreement being negotiated between both countries citing that it could increase immigration to the UK. She said it would go against the goals of Brexit.
Her remarks came during an interview with British magazine the Spectator where Braverman’s reaction was described as not thrilled when the trade deal was discussed with the possibility of migration included in it.
“I have concerns about having an open borders migration policy with India because I don’t think that’s what people voted for with Brexit. Look at migration in this country – the largest group of people who overstay are Indian migrants,” Braverman was quoted as saying by the Spectator.
She, however, said flexibility for students and entrepreneurs is understandable.
She also said that there was an agreement between both governments led by her predecessor Priti Patel, another Indian-origin politician like her, which aimed to ‘encourage and facilitate better cooperation’ on people who overstay their visas but Braverman said the plan ‘has not necessarily worked very well.’
Braverman was part of the Leave camp during Brexit and campaigned to leave the European Union. But two years after the UK left the EU, the home secretary lamented that ‘net migration figures have not fallen’ and is ‘pretty much at the same level as pre-Brexit’.
She said Boris Johnson and Priti Patel’s ‘levers’ and ‘points-based system and new visa routes’ would be used to ‘control who we want to come to the country.’
The UK home office statistics show 20,706 Indians overstayed their visas in 2020, higher than people from any other nation.
The Diwali deadline for concluding the trade deal was set by Johnson and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The negotiations were launched when Truss was the secretary of state for international trade.
The Indian High Commission responded to Braverman’s claims that the actions taken on people who overstay their visas has not worked out very well. In a statement, the High Commission said: “As part of our wider discussions under Migration and Mobility, the government of India is committed to working with the government of the UK to facilitate the return of Indian citizens who have overstayed their visa period here in the UK.”
“While certain issues pertaining to Mobility and Migration are currently under discussion as part of these negotiations, any comment on these matters may not be appropriate given that the negotiations are underway,” the Indian High Commission further added.
In its statement it said that as per data shared by the Home Office, actions were initiated on all of the cases which were referred to the High Commission. It pointed out that the UK undertook to fulfill ‘certain commitments’ as part of the Migration and Mobility Protocol (MMP) on which demonstrable progress is awaited.
A PTI report said that the contention conveyed by Braverman could mean that she is likely to withhold Cabinet backing for any visa concessions for India.
Read the Latest News and Breaking News here