The Prime Minister updated
Cabinet on the G7 leaders’ summit in Hiroshima.
He said the agreements secured
both at the summit and between the UK and Japan would make a real
difference to the UK public, whether it was the £18 billion
inward investment confirmed by Japanese companies to grow the
economy and create jobs, or the work to secure agreement between
the G7 to tackle the shared issue of illegal migration.
Turning to net migration, the
Prime Minister reiterated his commitment to getting the numbers
down and said the statistics showed a recent rise in the number
of dependants coming to the UK alongside international students.
Around 136,000 visas were granted to dependents in 2022, an
eight-fold increase from 2019.
He said the new policy package
announced by the Home Office today, including removing the right
for international students to bring dependants unless they are on
postgraduate courses, would make a significant difference to the
numbers.
The Home Secretary outlined the
announcement, saying it was important to strike the right balance
between acting decisively on tackling net migration and
protecting the economic benefits that students can bring to the
UK.
Cabinet then discussed support
for the Life Sciences sector. The Chancellor said the UK’s growth
strategy was focusing on the sectors that have the potential to
grow fastest and that life sciences was key. He highlighted it
was the UK’s life sciences sector that both delivered the
AstraZeneca vaccine and the Dexamethasone treatment which saved
millions of lives around the world.
Both the Chancellor and the
Health and Social Care Secretary updated Cabinet on the
Government’s approach to further supporting the sector.
The Prime Minister said the
attractiveness of the UK’s life sciences sector was another
example that countered the false claim that the UK had retreated
from the world stage.
He said in recent months the UK
Government had agreed the Windsor Framework secured new agreement
with the EU to work together to tackle illegal immigration,
announced the UK’s design will be used for AUKUS submarines and
secured agreement to join the CPTPP. He said the UK had signed a
deal to develop the next generation of fighter planes with Japan
and Italy, signed the Hiroshima Accord to deepen partnership with
Japan, all while helping shape the G7’s approach to both China
and furthering support for Ukraine.
He said few other countries had
secured such a breadth of global agreements. The Chancellor added
that the IMF had today confirmed a big upgrade to the UK’s growth
forecast – saying it was another illustration that the UK was
taking the right approach.
The Prime Minister concluded
Cabinet with a tribute to the work of and after England came fourth
internationally for primary reading proficiency in international
league tables. He said it was an extraordinary achievement which
had faced significant opposition, and it is making a difference
to the chances of young people across the country.
