Luke Piper

UK hosts of Ukrainian refugees hit out at ‘horrendous’ support from Home Office Juliet Grover has said that host families such as herself have been left with little information or support to advise refugees living with them

"With no sign of war in Ukraine slowing down, it’s time ministers reconsidered routes to settlement for Ukrainians who have sought to rebuild their lives in Britain.” - @lukepiper.bsky.social

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

And I'd imagine popular amongst those top users of the Skilled Worker route who make up the bulk outside of H&SC.?

I just don't see the gov. creating a bespoke scheme. Far too much political danger. Easier to take the hit on house building figures than increasing migration.

New monthly visa data:
➤ Skilled worker visa applications fell following July restrictions on care workers & mid-skilled jobs
➤Student visa applications similar to last year
➤Family visa applications ticking back upwards after the peak & decline that followed MIR increase

Note the significant number of construction roles being recommended and the concerns about the existing sponsorship model not being a good fit when it comes to protecting people from exploitation. This aligns with our own analysis published a few weeks ago: www.workrightscentre.org/publications...

David Lammy rules out charging workers for employment tribunal claims Justice secretary says right to challenge unfair work behaviour is core to Labour work plan after union backlash

www.theguardian.com/money/2025/o...

Climbing down from a position that would make the situation worse back to a place where it is already terrible, is not the flex I think the deputy PM thinks it is.

I'm glad the government will not introduce employment tribunal fees, but it's not true that "everyone, no matter their income" can get "access to justice" under the current system.

The barriers are endless & if you overcome them & win, you still might not even get the money you are owed

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www.workrightscentre.org/publications...

John Tuckett appointed as new ICIBI The Home Secretary has today announced John Tuckett's appointment as Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI).

John Tuckett appointed as new ICIBI www.gov.uk/government/n...

Important nods in this piece to how the UK's common law did not prevent children subject to corporal punishment or gay people facing discrimination and how it was the ECtHR that had to step in. There is also a link in the piece to the court's impact webpage, worth a look: www.coe.int/en/web/impac...

Wow!

There is a more pressing issue. Ministers must ensure that the vast numbers of immigrants who arrived in the so-called Boriswave of 2020-21 are not automatically absorbed into the permanent population. They are about to cross the the five-year threshold into ILR, yet Labour continues to dither. Ms Mahmood must freeze the status of this huge cohort while a new residency regime is finalised. A million or more extra permanent residents in these islands, let in on the nod, is simply unacceptable. Finally, the home secretary must acquaint herself, and the public, with an accurate estimate of the actual number of foreign nationals living here, what taxes they pay and what services they consume. Without hard data, all the political parties are fumbling around in the dark.

The Times finds it "unacceptable" that people who came here legally in 2021 and have been living and working here since should allowed to stay.

The sad decline of a once great newspaper into ignorant xenophobia and casual racism

archive.ph/TFZY9

Happy 25th Birthday Human Rights Act 1998!! Not exactly the birthday present you wanted but hey!

So very very confusing

Ye sorry to do that to you on a Thursday evening!

I'm sorry to say this is pretty difficult watching. It's a real representation of what is going wrong at the heart of Labour's approach to immigration policy.

Ye I'm watching now and it's not pleasant watching. It's all over the place but he appears to be saying the above. Sorry again in advance!

Minister hits back at claims PM is 'inciting violence' against Farage Mike Tapp also conceded that the scrapping of indefinite leave to remain in the UK for migrants will apply to someone who has spent five years in the UK but is yet to apply for the status.

Ye sorry! You can watch it here, not watched it yet mind you. news.sky.com/video/minist...

I know they keep flip flopping on this, but this is the minister in charge of the brief...

Starmer to end asylum ‘golden ticket’ of resettlement and family reunion rights People granted asylum will have to earn right to invite family in plan charities call ‘straight from populist playbook’

The idea that being a refugee is somehow a “golden ticket” is genuinely awful. These are people who the government have recognised are in need of protection. Do they think people chose that? That that’s what people wanted?

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

In Dept. for health it will be doctors/nurses/care workers, in the Dept. for trade it'll be tech bros and entrepreneurs, in housing it'll be construction workers on and on it goes. Meanwhile petrifying people already here and putting off the talent the government wants.

This sort of reality collision is going to happen over and over again so long as this government chases perceptions on immigration.

New right to remain rules could apply to migrants already in UK The Home Secretary is understood to be considering applying the policy to deal with concerns about the so-called ‘Boriswave'

let's hope so but sounds like it's all still in play

inews.co.uk/news/new-rig...

As regular readers will know, I'm not exactly a fan of doubling the time to ILR but two things about Mahmood's speech. First, she is still keeping to the five years to ILR for some (I expect this will be £ or job related) and this from the FT is good to hear and I very much hope is true.

Apart from the unnecessary hardship this will inflict on individuals, this will be bad for integration and social cohesion, bad for the economy, and will increase irregular migration.

[And, as @robfordmancs.bsky.social has shown, it's hugely unpopular and out of step with the British public]

Most people with visas in the UK have no recourse to public funds. This includes child benefit www.gov.uk/government/p...

The Home Sec. repeated her aims of maintaining a "open, tolerant, generous country" in her speech just now.

I'm struggling to see how doubling the qualification period for settlement, forced volunteering (quite the oxymoron) etc. achieve that aim.

Mahmood says she will introduce new conditions for indefinite leave to remain:

Lived here 10 years not 5
Being in work
Not taking a penny in benefits
No criminal record
Giving back to community eg volunteering