London: Britain’s state-funded National Health Service relies on migrant labour, but politicians say it will target immigration as they vie for votes ahead of Thursday’s general election.
The ruling right-wing Conservatives, who are expected to win the national vote, and the main opposition centre-left Labor Party, each of their main battleground promises, are seeking to protect the beloved but stretched NHS.
The Conservatives want to raise the minimum wage required for UK skilled worker visas to reduce the country’s migration rate, but opponents argue that would make recruitment worse.
Labor wants to hire and train more British staff, saying the NHS has been starved of cash and has become more reliant on foreign workers in 14 years of Tory government.
Last month, Brexit champion Nigel Farage gained traction with voters after taking over the leadership of Reform UK, the right-wing minority party that pledged to freeze immigration. However, from hospital wards and emergency departments to opticians and laboratories, foreign workers are vital to the NHS, providing universal healthcare free of charge at the time of delivery, but have been hit by pay strikes in recent years.
