Boriswave

The Boriswave, also spelt Boris Wave, is the significant and ongoing wave of immigration to the United Kingdom since 2021, following from the European Union (EU). The change was enabled by the relaxing of the points-based system by the prime minister at the time, Boris Johnson of the Conservative Party, which reduced requirements for the granting of visas.
Whilst the reasoning for the decision is disputed, polling showed that the outcome was opposed by a majority of the public. In the preceding 2019 general election, Johnson had promised to reduce net migration; a promise made by the Conservative Party in four successive general elections in the 2010s which consistently undelivered.
Origins
Following the decision by the UK to leave the EU, it was clear that free movement of workers and dependents between the EU and the UK would come to an end. On 19th December 2018 Theresa May's Home Secretary Sajid Javid drew up a plan for a new "new skills-based immigration system" that would:
# "remove the annual cap on the number of work visas issued"
# "widen the skills threshold to include people with qualifications equivalent of A levels"
# "ends the requirements for labour market tests by employers wanting to sponsor a worker."
In addition the new immigration system would include 'Shortage Occupation Lists' where the salary threshold for a visa could be reduced to 80% of the then £26,200 salary or lower for new entrants. The system came into operation on 1 January 2021.
The major increase in migration due to this new system was distinct from the , the Ukrainian resettlement scheme and migration from EU member states, and the continuing problems related to illegal immigration.
The wave
The new arrivals were primarily from countries such as Nigeria, India, and Pakistan. Many of these migrants were students, dependents, or low-wage workers. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) projected the net cost to the public finances of low-skilled workers to be £500,000, per immigrant, if they lived to 80 years of age.
Aftermath
The Home Office drew up a radical plan to reduce the predicted surge in immigration in a document dated August 2022 containing options as to how the Conservative government could meet its commitments. The plan was rejected by Johnson's successor, Liz Truss, and her successor, Rishi Sunak.
Upon the publication of statistics in November 2024 showing further substantial increases, Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the Labour Party stated that the policy had turned "Britain into a one-nation experiment in open borders" and that the change "happened by design, not accident".

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