We distributed this article in Vital Signs no.5 – feel free to donate to help with future print-costs!

Over 100,000 people demonstrated in London, many of them blaming migrants for the shitty conditions in this country. Investment wanker Nigel Farage announced that he wants to get rid of the Indefinite Leave to Remain, which would affect tens of thousands of workers in the UK. The Labour government also wants to appear tough on migration. Starmer talks nonsense about the UK “turning into an island of strangers” and in 2025 the government announced various measures:

• Reduction of job categories that you can get a visa for
• Increase in visa fees
• Planned change to period for settled status (IDLR) to 10, not 5 years
• More difficulty to bring family over, if you are in a lower qualified job
• More migration raids and deportations than under the Tory government

At the same time it is clear that the UK needs migration more than ever! Farm bosses have more and more trouble finding workers within Europe and often hire workers from as far away as Nepal or Indonesia. The health and care sector is still severely understaffed and many infrastructure projects, such as high-speed trains, power plants or micro-chip factories depend on engineering knowledge from abroad. So what is the logic behind pretending to be hard on migration?

Divide and rule

Like everywhere, the UK economy is tanking, while the state pledges to spend a few extra billions on re-armament. The government cannot promise anyone a golden future, so they promise people that others will be even worse off. They cut disability allowances, blame sick people for being unemployed and launch tirades against migration. Some parts of the local working class, often in the poorest areas of the country, pick this up and attack refugees. The government cries a few crocodile tears about the violence, but is happy that their discontent about the crisis and impoverishment targets other poor people, rather than the rich and the government. The recent anti-government uprisings in Indonesia, Nepal and the Philippines scare them.

Putting more pressure on the lowest paid workers

Like Trump in the USA or the right-wing Meloni government in Italy, the Labour government has no interest in ‘stopping migration’, they know that the local economy depends on it. By tightening the laws and increasing repression against migrants they want to keep them in a weak position, ready to accept low wages and unstable conditions. Once the state is able to impose such conditions on a separated segment of the working class, they can expand it to others, for example by curbing unemployment benefits or increasing the pension age. They have an interest in us competing in a down-ward spiral. Ultimately an ‘internal enemy’ is not enough and all governments rely increasingly on creating ‘external enemies’. 

The current crisis shows us the absurdity of this system. People go hungry or homeless or sick, not because there aren’t enough resources (knowledge, labour, technology) to produce what they need, but because production of such goods doesn’t promise any profits. The crisis of profits and markets exceeds the power of any national government. All that is left for them is to intensify national competition. A lot of it is at the same time a spectacle to try to convince their citizens that they are doing anything at all, when in reality they have little control over the situation. This sets off a dynamic where states tumble into the direction of global conflict, which in turn creates millions of displaced people looking for refuge.

Impact at Southmead hospital and the BRI

These current state measures have consequences for us at NBT and UHBW. For example, a recent vacancy at Southmead said:

Please note, this role does not currently meet the minimum £25,000 salary threshold required for Skilled Worker visa sponsorship, effective from 9th April 2025. Although higher pay points may be available depending on relevant NHS experience, most new appointments commence at the lower band, which falls below this threshold.

In areas of the hospitals like pharmacy, where Band 2 and 3 workers don’t meet the criteria for a “skilled worker” visa, colleagues are being told that the Trust won’t renew their visa sponsorship. Colleagues who are doing training courses are being told that if they don’t get a job that pays a certain amount after finishing within two weeks that they will face deportation. At Elgar at Southmead hospital we met a HCA colleague who told us that he got his visa just in time before the new rules became official and that the non-stop discussion about future rule changes causes a lot of stress for everyone.

What can we do?

Here, in the two hospitals in Bristol, we are 18,000 workers from all over the world. The first step is to understand the conditions we are in. We want to hear from colleagues who depend on work visas how they experience their situation. The second step is to build links of solidarity amongst us and our patients. One aim of the government is to make us police our patients, e.g. by asking about their migration status before treating them. Initiatives like ‘Patients not Passports’ can be of help.

https://patientsnotpassports.co.uk/

We have to fight back against migration raids against our colleagues. Co-workers who are scared that the police will raid their workplace will be more likely to accept low wages and shit conditions – we have to fight the regime of fear! 

https://www.facebook.com/brisantiraids/

On the London Underground, cleaners are also being threatened with deportation. In response, colleagues got together and are staging regular protests against the treatment of their migrant co-workers. They demand that the employer do more to prevent these workers being deported. They have managed to drag their union into supporting them. We could do something similar here and make it clear that we won’t accept our colleagues being ripped away from their lives.

Fellow migrant workers in the UK! Fellow warehouse workers, doctors, nurses and bricklayers, let’s go on strike for a day or two – that will shut dickheads like Starmer and Farage up for good!