Migrant workers’ rights: The three steps to a rights-based labour immigration strat­egy are: 1. Reform labour inspection and protections from work­place exploitation 2. Scrap restrictive employer-sponsored visas 3. Integrate asylum seekers into the points-based system The British economy is and will continue to be reliant on the contributions of migrant workers. Entire sectors, includ­ing essential areas such as health and social care and food production, would be utterly unable to function without a migrant work force. Without immigration, over the next decades the UK population would be stagnant, with the number of deaths matching that of births, and the average age increasing, leading to a crisis in our ability to provide services and support our ageing population. The birthrate for England and Wales recently hit 1.41 – the lowest on re ­cord for the third year in a row. 37 On current predictions, all of the population growth that we are going to rely on in the decade 2022-2032 will come from immigration. While that will mean our population will grow by roughly 7.3%, over the same period, the population of pensionable age is set to grow at almost twice the speed, by 13.8%. Our dependency ratio – the number of people in work, paying tax and providing services versus the number reliant on welfare such as pensions – is there ­fore tilting to what without immigration would be unsus­tainable levels. There is an argument that better mental health support and opportunities for training and apprenticeships for the local population could redress this balance somewhat by increasing the number of people able to work. It is also true that with improvements in pay and conditions in key areas of the economy it may be possible to attract more lo­cal workers. These measures are good things to achieve in­and-of themselves, and would help us support our popula­tion, but they are simply not enough to account for the de­mographic deficit that we are facing. 38 While there are big uncertainties ahead, especially in relation to how artificial intelligence will impact the labour market, all of the availa­ble data at the moment says that our welfare state’s con­tinued existence depends on the immigration of workers. Global demographic trends imply that the countries mi­grants tend to come from are predicted to experience the same fall in fertility, leading to an ageing and shrinking hu­man population globally. This will pose global challenges around technological innovation and how to support quali­ty jobs and pensions, which states will have to address through international cooperation. But the UK is in a still privileged position of being a destination that for a variety of reasons migrants want to come to, providing a cushion that should make it easier to support pensions in the dec­ades ahead. This is a fact too rarely acknowledged by poli­ticians and one that needs to be explained with great ur­gency. Large-scale net immigration of the type the UK benefits from must be well-managed and that means planning for and funding the infrastructure to support a growing popu­lation where many of us are older. With well-managed im­migration, we are capable of delivering a well-funded health service and ambitious house-building and communi­ty-building targets. The idea that we can stick our head in the sand and pretend that the creaking public services in­frastructure we currently have would be sufficient if only it weren’t for the arrival of foreigners is simply false and must be roundly rejected. The primary challenge to our public health infrastructure is the result of our own growing elder­ly share of the population who will need to make greater use of the welfare state and health and care services, not the relatively younger and economically active immigrant population who sustain them. 39 Managing immigration for work therefore needs to be well­planned and well-managed, and the current system – which has arisen piecemeal out of ad hoc attempts to sig­nal ever greater hostility, rather than designed as a com­prehensive system that meets the country’s needs – must be completely overhauled. 37  https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/bulletins/birthsummarytablesenglandandwales/2024refreshedpopula­tions#:~:text=In%202024%2C%20the%20total%20fertility,3rd%20year%20in%20a%20row. 38  https://obr.uk/frs/fiscal-risks-and-sustainability-july-2025/#:~:text=Over%20the%20long%20term%2C%20the,has%20taken%20in%20the%20interim. 39  https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/the-uks-changing-population/ 10 Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V.