Rishi Sunak agreed a secret four-point migration plan with Suella Braverman as he sought her support to become prime minister last year, allies of the former home secretary have claimed.
The prime minister promised to raise the salary threshold for migrants to £40,000 as part of a series of measures to bring down migration, it has been revealed.
Other parts of the plan included closing down the graduate visa route, restricting the number of dependents migrants can bring to the UK and prioritising overseas students applying for Russell Group universities.
Mr Sunak did not sign the deal, but agreed to it verbally on multiple occasions, allies of Ms Braverman told The Telegraph.
Ms Braverman first revealed she had a pact with Mr Sunak in a stinging letter to the PM after she was sacked as home secretary this month.
She branded her ex-boss a failure and accused him of betraying the deal, suggesting he “never had any intention” of keeping the promises.
Ms Braverman’s support in last October’s Tory leadership contest was seen as crucial to Mr Sunak’s victory, but in her letter she revealed she had agreed to serve as home secretary on “certain conditions”.
That agreement was a “document with clear terms”, she said, adding: “I trusted you.” But she accused Mr Sunak of “equivocation, disregard and a lack of interest”.
Asked about the deal, Mr Sunak told the Mail on Sunday: “Of course, you have conversations with people when you are in a leadership election and not just Suella.”
Asked if he was worried about her producing proof of the deal, he said: “That’s a question for her. I’m getting on with actually delivering things.”
Details of the secret deal now revealed show Mr Sunak had agreed to Ms Braverman’s proposal to raise the minimum salary threshold for skilled foreign worker visas from £26,000 to £40,000.
And she suggested replacing the two-year period during which graduates can stay in the UK and work or look for work with a fou-rmonth period.
The proposal, seen by The Telegraph, stated: “A. Close down the graduate visa route. B. Restrict number of dependents. C. Prioritise particular universities and courses. D. Increase salary thresholds for skilled workers from £25k to £40k.”
The plans were revealed as Mr Sunak faces a growing revolt over immigration after shock figures showed net migration hit a new record of 745,000 last year.
Mr Sunak has warned immigration levels are “too high” and promised action, with No10 promising to leave “no stone unturned”.
Business secretary Kemi Badenoch on Monday agreed, saying it is “quite clear” immigration is too high and that the salary threshold could be used to curtail the numbers of people coming to the UK.
Ms Badenoch would not set out a figure for what the salary threshold should be raised to, but said it should be looked at “in the round” with other measures.
“Net migration is too high. so we need to start from there. How many people do we think that the country can sustain? And how do we do that in a way that doesn’t put pressure on public services? And then you work backwards from that,” she told the BBC.
And with pressure mounting on Mr Sunak over the figures, Ms Badenoch said the surge in migration was “not under this prime minister… it was not really under Suella Braverman”.
She added: “We are the ones who are actually taking a serious look at what can be done, given what happened under Prime Minister Boris Johnson.”
It comes as James Cleverly is set to announce a review of measures to control legal migration levels.
The new home secretary will on Monday concede Britain does not have control over who is coming into the country, Sky News reported.
Mr Sunak will set out the results of the review next month.
