Oral Answers to Questions

Danny Kruger Excerpts

Wednesday 15th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Just to correct the hon. Lady, it is now a minority of people in our modern slavery referral system that are from the UK. That was not the intention of the legislation when it was introduced. We have a proud record of supporting victims of modern slavery. Thousands of victims are supported every year here in the UK and that will not change as we grip illegal immigration.

[Danny Kruger (Devizes) (Con)]

Q6. On Monday, the Home Secretary said that in recent decades immigration to this country has been too high, and all those on the Opposition Benches howled their disapproval. They want higher immigration, not lower. Does my right hon. Friend agree that, rather than importing cheap foreign labour, we need to invest in the skills of our own young people and encourage businesses to do likewise?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is right to say that we need to encourage long-term investment in the domestic workforce. We will hear more on that from the Chancellor later this afternoon, but the Department for Work and Pensions is directing support at sectors with labour shortages, such as construction and social care, and our new skills bootcamps are part of a dramatic rebooting of our skills system to support workers to get the skills that they need.