Liz Truss and Home Sec Suella Braverman at odds on immigration, says Rory Stewart
5 October 2022, 19:21 | Updated: 7 October 2022, 13:36
Former Cabinet minister Rory Stewart has suggested Liz Truss and her Home Secretary could be on a collision course on immigration policy.
Speaking on LBC's Tonight with Andrew Marr, he said: "She [Truss] is going to run into a problem about immigration, because she clearly thinks that immigration can bring growth, and of course, technically that's true.
He added: "But of course, she's got a Home Secretary who doesn't want immigration.
Suella Braverman has revived a previous Tory pledge to bring down net migration to the tens of thousands, and said she would aspire to cut down the overall figure from the current 239,000 level.
She faces a clamour from Conservative activists for the government to take control on the levels of immigration.
Liz Truss is drawing up plans to make it easier for businesses to bring talented staff from abroad under short-term placements in response to short-term labour shortages, the Financial Times reported.
However, allies of the PM say she's keen to "crack down" on "unskilled immigration", and is concerned about an influx of people coming into the country as relatives of international students.
Mr Stewart has been deeply critical of the Tory leader's approach on the economy and has previously described working with her as "traumatising".
But following Truss' speech at the Tory party conference in Birmingham today, he said that while her fiscal approach may not square with traditional party values, they "may work".
He described the emphasis on growth as a vision of tearing up regulations and creating a 'kind of extreme Singapore on Thames' which he said "may work, but it's not very Conservative".
