Migrants who come to Britain must uphold its traditions, not change them

The qualities which make Britain special mean that there will always be more people wanting to come to this country than we can reasonably support. Many of them have no particular interest in the future and success of the UK. It’s just a better place to be.  So, as citizens and taxpayers, we must have rules.

We need to demand that those who come here love this country and will maintain and uphold its traditions, not change them. It is not enough that they work hard and avoid crime.

A proper immigration strategy should start off with three principles: Numbers matter. Culture matters even more. Leadership starts from the top. Our points-based immigration system failed on all three counts.

You cannot police, plan or provide public services if you don’t know how many people are in your nation or due to come. There’s a reason that infrastructure seems to be creaking – despite the amount we’ve spent. It’s because demand has shot up faster. A migrant can arrive with their possessions and their skills but can’t bring a new home, hospital bed or school place.

What they can bring is their culture.

Culture is more than cuisine or clothes. It’s also customs which may be at odds with British values. We cannot be naïve and assume immigrants will automatically abandon ancestral ethnichostilities at the border, or that all cultures are equally valid. They are not. I am struck for example, by the number of recent immigrants to the UK who hate Israel. That sentiment has no place here. We must recognise that the world has changed. When I moved back to this country 30 years ago, it was impossible to communicate quickly with my family. Letters would take weeks to arrive, I had to schedule calls with the few people who had working telephones let alone mobiles.

Today’s immigrants, even those arriving on boats come with WhatsApp and Instagram. Their feet may be in the UK, but their heads and hearts are still back in their country of origin. We need an integration strategy that takes this into account.

Our country is not a dormitory for people to come here and make money. It is our home. Those we chose to welcome, we expect to share our values and contribute to our society. British citizenship is more then having a British passport but also a commitment to the UK and its people.

This is why leadership matters. We have lost trust because we promised again and again to lower migration and failed to do so. Without trust, more promises to cap migration, or leave the ECHR are not credible. Who can be trusted to solve this issue? The answer is someone who has a record of delivery, not failure. As Business Secretary, I removed the European Court of Justice’s supremacy from UK Law in December 2023 and 4,000 EU regulations we did not want with it. This was one of the most difficult bills to pass in the last parliament, but I got the job done.