Take Back Control: How solving the UK’s skills crisis can move the political dial on immigration

This report sets out a new framework for taking back control - one that links skills reform and immigration policy into a single, credible project to restore hope and opportunity across the UK.

Skills and training are one of the most politically salient issues with voters across the UK, but have too often been undervalued by successive Governments. And few make the connection between skills and immigration, despite the fact that they readily go hand in hand. Britons’ concerns about immigration are not just about numbers or borders, but about pressure on the system - the belief that immigration has crowded out opportunities, stretched public services and exposed how little has been invested in British workers.

To counter this narrative, the Government must not only make immigrants’ contribution and commitment to the UK clear, but it must also increase opportunities for Britons here at home.