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Jess Phillips brings the house down with incredible speech on “insulting” £30k salary test for immigrants

Labour MP Jess Phillips received a rapturous response in parliament after she lamented the proposed £30,000 salary test for immigrants.

The government published a heavily-delayed immigration White Paper last month setting out requirements for workers hoping to move to the UK.

In what Sajid Javid described as the “biggest shakeup to the UK immigration system in a generation”, workers from across the world would be subject to the £30,000 minimum salary threshold in order to prove they are “skilled” in their trade.

The Home Secretary cited his own parents as an example of immigration’s positives when announcing the changes, even though it includes policies that would have prevented them from moving to Britain in the first place.

Yesterday MP for Birmingham Yardley, Jess Phillips took a stand in parliament to lament the government’s “insulting” proposals.

She said she has met many rich, posh people with no discernible skills, saying: “I have met some very rich people who earn huge amounts of money who I wouldn’t let hold my pint”.

Watch the speech in full below:

Jack Peat

Jack is a business and economics journalist and the founder of The London Economic (TLE). He has contributed articles to VICE, Huffington Post and Independent and is a published author. Jack read History at the University of Wales, Bangor and has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

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