Mr McNeil said the jobs were eligible for skilled worker visas because of post-Brexit immigration changes, adding: “At the same time as ending free movement, the government reduced the skills threshold to allow middle-skilled jobs to qualify for work visas.
As well as seeking greater publicity of its illegal working raids and deportation flights, the party is continuing Tory measures to cut legal migration including restrictions on overseas students bringing family members to Britain and limiting care workers bringing dependents to the country.
With Labour promising to crack down on legal migration, an Oxford academic has found DJs and pilates instructors are also among those eligible to come to the UK for work.
Labour is increasingly focusing on efforts to cut legal and illegal migration in a bid to counter the growing threat of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which has overtaken Sir Keir’s party in a series of polls.
Office for National Statistics figures showed net migration hit a record 906,000 in 2023, almost four times the level of 2016, when Britain voted to leave the EU due in part to the promise of lower migration.
