London will struggle to control irregular migration

Significance

Starmer is looking to replace the previous government’s controversial Rwanda policy. He is particularly interested in Italy’s deal with Albania, which permits Italian authorities to process migrants in Albanian centres.

Impacts

• Long-term projections suggest that legal migration will be less of a challenge for this government than it was for previous governments.
• EU countries may request that London agrees to an EU-UK youth mobility scheme in return for cooperation on irregular migration.
• Falling legal migrant numbers, coupled with more emigration, will increase the labour shortages facing many lower-skill sectors.