Labour’s Pat McFadden MP has said that ending the incentive to pay migrants less than British workers is the key to reducing the number of people entering the country.
He told
GB News
: “Migration has tripled under the Government. Just look at the record. I don’t know why it would be any different in the future from what they’ve done. I can only look at what they’ve actually done.
“I understand the concerns around this. So, one thing we are saying is let’s get rid of the wage incentive for migrant workers. Right now, under the Tories, it’s legal to pay people 20% less than the going rate for the equivalent British worker.
“Let’s change that and at least make it a level playing field for people who want to come into the country.”
Speaking during Breakfast with Stephen Dixon and Isabel Webster, he continued: “Maybe instead of throwing more and more money after a failing Rwanda scheme, why not take that money and spend it on attacking the criminal gangs who are actually organising this illegal trade in people in the first place?
“They are two things that might make a difference, neither of which the Conservatives will do.”
On concern that Labour would seek to re-join the EU, he said: “Whoever wins the next election, the duty for that leader, that government will be to make the best future that we can outside the EU. We’re not going to re-run the argument.
“I think we do need a good adult positive relationship with our near neighbours. If you look at Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, I think it puts into stark relief some of the things that we’ve been fighting about in recent years. But that future will not be by re-running the Brexit argument.
“It’s a duty on any future prime minister to make the best future they can for the country after the decision that was made in the referendum a few years ago.”
