Visas: Highly Skilled People

Debate between Lord Austin of Dudley and Lord Kennedy of Southwark

Wednesday 26th November 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford (Con)]

My Lords—

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Lab Co-op)]

It is the turn of the non-affiliated Benches.

[Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-Afl)]

With 1 million young people not in education, training or work, and with the number of apprenticeships having collapsed in this country, how can it possibly make sense for us to waive the visa rules to bring in roofers, bricklayers, carpenters and care workers, let alone nurses and other NHS workers? These are all highly skilled roles, but we can train young people up to do them quite quickly. Would it not make much more sense to massively increase the number of apprenticeships available for young people who are in this country already?