Halal butchers and kebab shops have issued hundreds of skilled worker visas in recent years, with one butcher alone sponsoring 87 visas, GB News can reveal.
A Freedom of Information Request, submitted by the Centre for Migration Control (CMC) and seen by this broadcaster, found several examples of halal and kebab shops sponsoring dozens of skilled worker visas between 2021 and 2023.
One butchers in Preston sponsored 91 visas alone, with 87 of them being used.
According to the government’s website, butchers and chefs are eligible professions to acquire a skilled worker visa.
Call centre supervisors, bar managers, personnel managers, and gym instructors are among other jobs which can qualify as skilled under the government’s visa scheme.
Robert Bates, research director of the Centre for Migration Control, told GB News: “The Home Office has allowed businesses to act as visa mills, turning their back on Brits and bringing in low-skilled individuals from outside Europe.”
“There is no economic reason for us to import overseas chefs, butchers or call centre staff, and the social costs of us doing so are huge.”
“Five years working in their friend's business and these individuals then qualify for benefits and are put on the fast-track for citizenship. The whole process has become a racket.”
Keep up to date with GB News at gbnews.com or on X @GBNEWS
Support GB News by becoming a member from just £5 per month: https://gbnews.com/support
A Freedom of Information Request, submitted by the Centre for Migration Control (CMC) and seen by this broadcaster, found several examples of halal and kebab shops sponsoring dozens of skilled worker visas between 2021 and 2023.
One butchers in Preston sponsored 91 visas alone, with 87 of them being used.
According to the government’s website, butchers and chefs are eligible professions to acquire a skilled worker visa.
Call centre supervisors, bar managers, personnel managers, and gym instructors are among other jobs which can qualify as skilled under the government’s visa scheme.
Robert Bates, research director of the Centre for Migration Control, told GB News: “The Home Office has allowed businesses to act as visa mills, turning their back on Brits and bringing in low-skilled individuals from outside Europe.”
“There is no economic reason for us to import overseas chefs, butchers or call centre staff, and the social costs of us doing so are huge.”
“Five years working in their friend's business and these individuals then qualify for benefits and are put on the fast-track for citizenship. The whole process has become a racket.”
Keep up to date with GB News at gbnews.com or on X @GBNEWS
Support GB News by becoming a member from just £5 per month: https://gbnews.com/support
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NewsTranscript
00:00So if you're looking around Britain and you're thinking, well, this is suddenly looking rather
00:07shabby and nothing seems to be working, that's because we've entered what is called a population
00:12trap, which is the rate of our population growth is so great, it exceeds the capacity
00:18of the state to provide public services.
00:22In this exclusive documentary, GB News has found out how mass migration has been allowed
00:29to sweep the country.
00:30So there's actually a halal premise in Preston that has handed out 100 visas in just two
00:35years.
00:36So that's the kind of levels that we are dealing with around the country.
00:42We asked migrants what they do for work.
00:45And what do you do?
00:46I used to work in the hospitality industry, so I'm just looking for a job.
00:50So you're a food delivery driver.
00:52And we asked people in Bradford what they thought about immigration.
00:56What about immigration?
00:57How has that changed Bradford?
00:59When they first come in, they're fine.
01:02But now it's overloaded, everything, you can't trust anybody.
01:07My name is Stephen Edgington, and in this film, I'm exploring the legal routes migrants
01:13take to get into Britain and how they impact our economy.
01:19In partnership with the Centre for Migration Control, GB News has discovered that hundreds
01:25of skilled worker visas have been handed out to migrants to work in kebab houses and
01:31halal butchers.
01:32According to a Freedom of Information request submitted by the CMC, between 2021 and 2023,
01:40skilled worker visas were sponsored by 56 kebab houses, 83 businesses with halal in
01:48their name, and one butcher's alone sponsored 918 skilled worker visas.
01:56The skilled worker visa route allows migrants to come into Britain if they are chefs or
02:01butchers, among many other occupations including call centre supervisors, bar managers, personnel
02:08managers and gym instructors.
02:11I caught up with Robert Bates of the Centre for Migration Control in Bradford to discuss
02:17his findings.
02:18There's been a huge explosion in legal migration in the last few years, and Priti Patel recently
02:23said that she let in the best and brightest on this new points-based system in which we're
02:30getting highly skilled people coming in.
02:32Is that what you've found?
02:34So the Pakistani restaurant behind us in the last two years has handed out 15 visas to
02:39individuals that are living outside the United Kingdom.
02:42Now what this is indicative of is what's happened under the Conservative government, the last
02:46Conservative government, where they effectively outsourced Britain's immigration system to
02:51businesses on the front line.
02:52They allow these businesses to issue certificates of sponsorship to individuals of their own
02:57choosing and then once those certificates are issued, the likelihood of that individual
03:01being given an actual visa is in the 90% mark.
03:05So what we have effectively allowed to happen under Priti Patel and Johnson is that businesses
03:09such as the one behind us have had no real limitations on who they're able to bring into
03:14the country, and 15 people for a small restaurant such as this one is absolutely ridiculous.
03:19These visas that this restaurant has handed out are actually skilled visas, so the people
03:25working in kebab shops and Pakistani restaurants and so on here in Bradford are allegedly skilled
03:31workers.
03:32So if you look at the actual list of professions that are classed as skilled worker, I think
03:36a lot of people would be left scratching their head to understand what skill is actually
03:39involved.
03:40So obviously we have those chefs and a large number of the chefs that are coming into the
03:44country on that visa are coming from South Asia.
03:46We then have butchers, which again a large number of them are coming from South Asia
03:50to work in halal shops.
03:51There is actually a halal premise in Preston that has handed out 100 visas in just two
03:56years, so that's the kind of levels that we are dealing with around the country.
04:00Bradford is one of those cities in England that's sort of stereotypical or known as being
04:06a heavily immigrant community.
04:08Can you tell us a bit more about how Bradford perhaps represents migration over the last
04:13few years?
04:14Yes, so about 15% of the population of Bradford are actually foreign born and then obviously
04:18the diversity comes as well through the second generation migrants that are eventually brought
04:23up in those communities of first generation migrants.
04:25I think it's very important to realise that the speed of immigration that we've seen over
04:29the last 10 years has meant that we are going to see an absolutely huge transformation that
04:33makes previous transformation between say the late 1990s and up until now look very
04:38tame in comparison.
04:39We've recently put out a piece that shows that by 2035 one in three of the population
04:44of Britain will be either first or second generation migrants.
04:47This is driven primarily by the huge levels of immigration that the Conservatives presided
04:51over but also that Labour have put no plan in place to bring down.
04:55So do you think that more cities in Britain could become like Bradford as a result of
05:01the mass migration we've seen in the last few years?
05:03I think it's inevitable.
05:04Obviously we know that recently arrived migrants are most likely to congregate and house themselves
05:09in areas where there is already an existingly large migrant population but I also think
05:14we need to recognise that as those migrants that are already here begin to become slightly
05:17more aspirational there is a likelihood of them drifting further towards the peripheries
05:22of the big towns and cities and then into the villages and the smaller towns as well.
05:27So you know at the moment about one in five of the country are foreign born or descendant
05:33of a foreign born born after 1997 but by 2035 that is going to be one in three and you know
05:39you look at the statistics in Birmingham at the moment which is held up or Bradford
05:42which is held up as one of those most diverse places in the UK we're going to be seeing
05:47that that percentage is writ large across the entirety of the UK and I don't think this
05:51is something that many politicians have been prepared to discuss have not been prepared
05:54to actually tackle head on the huge cultural changes that are resulting and the increasingly
05:59dwindling loyalty that is felt by large portions of the population to Britain.
06:03So the idea that people are coming into Britain are highly skilled is for the birds do you
06:09think that it's basically a myth that the recent immigration has been of highly skilled
06:14people?
06:15It's a complete myth it's absolutely ridiculous it's the biggest misnomer that I've seen in
06:18a very long time about 70% of those people coming into the UK in 2023 were coming in
06:23in an occupation where they'd be earning a salary less than is needed for them to be
06:28making a net positive economic contribution so that's 70% and that's not then including
06:33the dependents those coming on student visas that are obviously increasing pressures on
06:37public services as well so the idea that every single individual coming in is far from
06:41the case in fact it's actually an anomaly for an individual to be coming in to the UK
06:45that would arguably fit the description of skilled.
06:48In 1991 Bradford according to the official census data was 84% white in 2021 that number
06:57declined to just 61% this is significantly lower than the UK population as a whole which
07:04is 83% white meanwhile the Asian population of Bradford has increased from 13% to 32%
07:12in the same time period.
07:14According to the property valuation company VARBS the GDP per capita of Bradford is £21,778
07:23which is lower than England's GDP per capita which is £34,690.
07:31Since 2012 Bradford's economy has increased at less than half the rate than the rest of
07:36the country.
07:37We took to the streets of the city to interview migrants and locals about their views on immigration.
07:43Okay so how long have you lived in Bradford?
07:45Almost three months.
07:46Where did you come from?
07:48I'm from Ethiopia.
07:49And what do you do here?
07:51Actually I'm seeking currently an asylum here so I have been granted a refugee status.
07:56So obviously you can't work so have you been granted the status yet?
07:59Yeah I have been granted the status already.
08:01So you are eligible to work then?
08:04Yeah I'm eligible to work here.
08:05And what do you do?
08:07I used to work in the hospitality industry so I'm just looking for a job in hospitality
08:11and tourism.
08:12And do you think that Britain and Bradford needs more immigration?
08:18It depends, it depends.
08:21What does it depend on?
08:23Actually if they are fearing of persecution and if they are fearing discrimination and
08:28persecution, maybe, yeah.
08:30A lot of people think that immigration is too high, there's too many immigrants coming
08:34to Britain.
08:35What do you think about that?
08:38It depends on the people's status like if they are like escaping in order to save their
08:44lives and if they are on the high risk of their life, yes, because they are just escaping
08:50not to die.
08:51But what if they are coming for work?
08:54No.
08:55Because they can't work in their country, yeah.
08:58Yeah of course, yeah, yeah.
08:59I mean it doesn't look nice man, you know what I mean?
09:00Oh you've got your Just Eat.
09:02So do you work for Just Eat then?
09:04I do, yes, yeah, I work for Just Eat.
09:05So you're a food delivery driver.
09:07How long have you lived in Bradford?
09:10Since 1994, so I am one of the perfect candidates for your interview as well.
09:14Like you're talking about immigration and everything, you know, so the immigration was
09:17well before those days, it was so easy, honestly there wasn't any problems whatsoever.
09:22Are you an immigrant?
09:23No, I wasn't an immigrant.
09:25I used to come and go, you know what I mean, then obviously when I came here, I applied
09:30for a work permit and it was granted to me, you know, so I took the legal channels, you
09:33know what I mean?
09:34Where did you come from?
09:35Pakistan.
09:36Pakistan, yes.
09:37Do you feel that there should be more immigrants coming into Britain doing the sort of jobs
09:40you're doing?
09:41To be honest with you, it's not about this job, because I had a high profile job as well,
09:44like I said to you, I used to be health and safety rep, I used to work for the GMB, which
09:50is a union which is run by Labour, connected with Labour as well, which is the current
09:55government as well.
09:56So for the people who are becoming immigrants nowadays, yes, yeah, they have got a problem.
10:01The economy has changed, the world has changed, you know, hardly any jobs for anybody, you
10:06know, and for me, to be honest with you, I say whoever wants to work, they will find
10:10a job, no matter what.
10:12So we're covering a story today about how kebab houses and restaurants here in Bradford
10:17are handing out upwards of 15 visas each, we found examples of where they're handing
10:21out 15 so-called highly skilled visas to immigrants from places like Pakistan.
10:26Do you think it's right that those people are coming here and that those kebab houses
10:29are handing out those visas?
10:31If anybody who's coming legally, right, okay, they've paid their dues, taxes, you know,
10:36I mean, within their country, and they've paid all the relevant fees to the Home Office
10:39and everything, and I mean, the Home Office approved them, then there shouldn't be a problem,
10:43you know, but if somebody's like coming, you know, putting their life at risk and everything
10:47as well, you know, which is dangerous for them as well, for their families as well,
10:50I would say that people are, you know, fight for what you're doing, you know, within your
10:54own country, and I mean, but taking a big-time risk, coming on the boats, you know, especially
11:00being in Pakistan nowadays, you know, I mean, if you look at what the government's been
11:03doing there, right, again, what's going on in Pakistan, there's a political chaos there,
11:07people have no choice to leave the country, every boat overturns and everything, you find
11:11out, okay, there's about a few hundred Pakistanis in there, you know, this is wrong, I believe,
11:16this is totally wrong, and people make money off these guys anyway, you know what I mean.
11:20But do you think that working in a kebab house is a highly skilled job?
11:24No, I wouldn't say that, when I came here, I didn't even know how to cook an egg, but
11:29I know everything now, you know what I mean, you know, I don't believe that this is a highly
11:34skilled job, yes, yeah, it's an experienced job, you know what I mean, but I cannot say
11:37that it's a highly skilled job.
11:38How long have you lived here?
11:39I'm 76.
11:4076?
11:41Yeah.
11:42Wow.
11:44How has Bradford changed in those years?
11:47The shops, for a start, everywhere around here, shops, Kirkgate Market, John Street
11:52Market, you know, like flea markets.
11:55What about immigration, how has that changed Bradford?
11:58When they first come in, they're fine, but now it's overloaded, everything, you can't
12:06trust anybody or anything, it's horrible, it makes you cry.
12:12Do you think the people who are coming to Bradford are highly skilled migrants?
12:17I don't know, because you're asked, but everything's changing.
12:20Do you think immigrants who are coming in are doing highly skilled jobs, are they highly
12:24skilled workers?
12:27Without any figures, I wouldn't know the answer to that, but I do think that there are a lot
12:31of immigrants, legal or illegal, probably do lower skilled jobs, you see a lot of car
12:39washes, nail parlours, these type of things, but then you've got the health service, so.
12:44It's also certainly different, because I say we've come through from Harrogate, and the
12:48difference between Harrogate and Bradford, it's, you feel sometimes, you feel like a
12:52stranger in your own country, you know, so that's, I don't know, I don't know what the
12:57answer's going to be.
12:58Yeah, but just one last question, we've covered today a story about local kebab shops handing
13:03out 15 highly skilled visas in each shop, what do you make of that, the fact that these
13:09kebab shops are handing out 15 highly skilled visas each?
13:12I don't understand.
13:15Highly skilled in what?
13:16In being chefs and things.
13:19Well, I think you could probably write your own ticket there, couldn't you, you know,
13:28you're a highly qualified chef.
13:30What's it like living in Bradford?
13:32Brilliant, everybody's got quite, you know, bad things to say about it, but people that
13:39were born and bred here, yeah, diversity, you know, it's good, nice place.
13:46There's been a huge amount of immigration, you mentioned diversity, into Bradford in
13:49recent years, do you think immigrants are doing highly skilled jobs?
13:55Does it matter?
13:56You know, I think the key at the minute is be a little bit kinder to people.
14:02We're covering a news story about the fact that some shops here in Bradford, like local
14:06kebab shops, have handed out upwards of 15 visas each to highly, or supposedly highly
14:11skilled visas to migrants, do you think it's right that these shops are handing out these
14:15visas in that way?
14:16That's not for me to say, is it, that's for the powers that be, I mean, everybody here
14:22accepts one another for who they are and what they are, so.
14:26There's been a lot of immigration to Bradford, particularly the last few years from Pakistan
14:31and other places, we found out, we were covering a story that local kebab shops have been handing
14:36out highly skilled visas, up to 15 per kebab shop, do you think that's right that they're
14:42handing out these visas?
14:43Not if they're not genuine, I think obviously there's rules and laws there for a reason,
14:53everyone else follows them, so, everyone else follows the laws and rules, so they should,
14:57but whether they are or not is a different question.
14:59Do you think working in a kebab house is a highly skilled profession?
15:05I mean, it's easy for them to say from outside looking in, probably not, but then they could
15:12say it's my job highly skilled, it's your job highly skilled, so, each to their own
15:16I suppose.
15:17What's your job?
15:18I work for a bank.
15:19Do you think more broadly immigration has been good for the economy?
15:24In the right way, yeah, but I think with anything there's good and there's bad, you
15:29only really hear the bad press, not really the good press, but yeah, I think so, yeah.
15:35Both Labour and the Conservatives have pledged to reduce immigration numbers.
15:40To discuss the political fallout of migration, I sat down with the author Matthew Goodwin
15:46in London.
15:47Do you trust Kemi Badnok to solve the issue of immigration?
15:50Do you think she takes it seriously?
15:53Do you think she understands the problem or the threat that immigration poses to Britain?
15:58No, I don't trust Kemi Badnok and I don't trust the Tories on immigration and I never
16:02will because, like many other people watching this show, I lived through the last 14 years
16:06and I saw what the Conservative Parliamentary Party did to this country when it had the
16:10chance to do something radically different.
16:13We know that the system the Tories put in place is absurd, they've said that they welcome
16:21the best of the best.
16:23We know of the nearly 4 million people we gave visas to in recent years, 5.4% came in
16:31on the high skilled worker visas, that's 1 in 20, 5%, that's absurd, like I'm furious
16:36about what they did to the country.
16:38We even got into this bizarro world where the dependency ratio for some of these groups,
16:43say people from Zimbabwe, we gave 1,000 visas to people from Zimbabwe to come and work in
16:48our health and social care system, they brought 10,000 relatives with them, 10 to 1.
16:53Now you might say, well what's the problem with that, well everybody's using housing,
16:57everybody's using the NHS, everybody's looking for GP appointments, everybody's using the
17:01roads.
17:02The point is what this has basically resulted in, as even government reports now admit,
17:06is what they call in technical language the dilution of capital stock.
17:10What they mean by that is the managed decline of our country.
17:14So if you're looking around Britain and you're thinking, well this is suddenly looking rather
17:17shabby and nothing seems to be working, that's because we've entered what is called a population
17:22trap, which is the rate of our population growth is so great, it exceeds the capacity
17:28of the state to provide public services.
17:32Why aren't my kids safe on the streets of Britain?
17:35Why is the NHS not working?
17:38Why are schools looking run down and terrible?
17:40Why can't we control the borders?
17:43Why is our economy flat lining, no growth, masses of debt, no productivity, because we're
17:48in a population trap, it's just nobody in Westminster wants to admit it.
17:52Though some politicians claim they have only let the best and brightest into Britain in
17:58recent years, our investigation revealed that some of those let in with skilled visas are
18:06working in jobs many would not consider skilled.
18:10We approached the Home Office with our findings, but did not receive a comment.
18:14A Conservative Party spokesman said,
18:17The Conservative Party is under new leadership and Kemi Badenoch has been clear that migration
18:23levels in this country have been far too high.
18:26It is why Kemi and the Conservative Party have begun setting out a plan to bring these
18:31levels down, including a strict numerical cap on migration numbers and changing the
18:37rules on indefinite leave to remain, to make sure that British citizenship is treated as
18:43a privilege, not an automatic right.
18:46With the Labour Party throwing our borders wide open, it is clear only the Conservatives
18:50can be trusted to bring the numbers down.