The New Conservatives group of MPs have finally launched their well-briefed 12-point manifesto this morning, demanding the PM cuts net migration by roughly 400,000 before the general election. The 25-strong group of 2017 and 2019 intake MPs insist they’re not rebels, although designing a logo, hosting a manifesto launch, and warning Rishi should follow their plans or risk “eroding public trust” suggests they’re not planning on staying quiet over the next year…

The manifesto was written by Ipswich MP Tom Hunt, and is backed by the likes of Lee Anderson* – who missed the launch today due to an “illness” – Miriam Cates and Danny Kruger. It insists Rishi needs to “honour [the] trust” of the 2019 manifesto by reducing migration to around 200,000 a year by implementing strict measures, including a higher £38,000 salary threshold for skilled workers and reduce visas grants by 117,000. They warn the current system “just [isn’t] working”. Given migration is now at roughly 600,000 a year, and now the Rwanda plan is being pushed further down the road, that’s an understatement…

Unless the indigenous economically inactive can be brought back into the workplace, cutting immigrant workers will mean shortages in critical sectors – health and social care. Britain can’t realistically afford to raise wages in the public sector so it is difficult to square without immigration. Despite the fanfare, Downing Street have already poured cold water on the proposals. His spokesperson said today the current measures “strike the right balance currently“. 93% of the country appears to disagree…

* Anderson supports the group, though his name did not appear on its list of supporters this morning because, as Tory Deputy Chairman, he can’t officially endorse outsider policy proposals…

Read the full 12-point plan, and the list of MPs publicly backing the group, below:

MP supporters: Gareth Bacon MP Duncan Baker MP Jack Brereton MP Paul Bristow MP Miriam Cates MP Brendan Clarke-Smith MP James Daly MP Anna Firth MP Nick Fletcher MP Chris Green MP James Grundy MP Jonathan Gullis MP Eddie Hughes MP Tom Hunt MP Mark Jenkinson MP Danny Kruger MP Andrew Lewer MP Marco Longhi MP Robin Millar MP Lia Nici MP 

1) Close the temporary schemes that grant eligibility for worker visas to ‘care workers’ and ‘senior care workers’. This policy will reduce visas granted by 117,000 between those workers and their dependents, leading to a reduction in ‘long-term inward migration’ of 82,000.

2) Raise the main skilled work visa salary threshold to £38,000 per annum. This could reduce LTIM [long-term immigration] by 54,000 migrants per year.

3) Extend the closure of the student dependent route, which allows full access to the job market and is not subject to skill or salary thresholds, to students enrolled on one-year research master’s degrees. Combined with the government’s existing proposal, this could lead to a reduction in LTIM of around 75,000.

4) Close the graduate route to students, so as to stop students staying in the UK after graduating for up to two years without a job offer. This should lead to a reduction of around 50,000 in LTIM per year.

5) Reserve university study visas for the brightest international students by excluding the poorest-performing universities from eligibility criteria. This could lead to a reduction of 49,000 from LTIM.

6) Continue to monitor the reduction in visa applications under the humanitarian schemes and introduce caps on future humanitarian schemes should the predicted 168,000 reductions not be realised.

7) Rapidly pass and implement the provisions of the illegal migration bill, leading to a reduction of at least 35,000 from LTIM.

8) Cap the number of refugees legally accepted for resettlement in the UK at 20,000.

9) Raise the minimum combined income threshold to £26,200 for sponsoring a spouse and raise the minimum language requirement to B1 (intermediate level). This should lead to an estimated 20,000 reduction in LTIM.

10) Make the migration advisory committee report on the effect of migration on housing and public services, not just the jobs market, by treating future demand on a par with labour requirements in all studies.

11) Cap the amount of social housing that councils can give to non-UK nationals at five percent until the number of British families waiting for housing clears.

12) Raise the immigration health surcharge to £2,700 per person, per year.