Rishi Sunak faces Tory revolt over fears he could hand India THOUSANDS of student visas in bumper trade deal
RISHI Sunak is facing a fresh Tory migration revolt — as MPs fear he will hand India thousands of student visas in a bumper trade deal.
The two countries are on course to seal an agreement in the coming weeks, which could give the green light for thousands more arrivals — on top of the 606,000 who came last year.
Insiders fear the PM has all but agreed to cave in to Narendra Modi’s demands in exchange for slashing tariffs on UK goods and giving our service industry access to India’s lucrative markets.
Mr Sunak is due to fly to India for G20 meetings in a fortnight and hopes to seal a trade deal with the country’s prime minister ahead of UK elections next year.
But Tory Red Wall and New Conservative Group MPs are furious with another increase in migrant numbers by the back door — on top of soaring small boats crossings.
One Tory source said Suella Braverman was unhappy with the idea, saying: “We understand the Home Secretary shares our concerns but thinks this is a decision for the PM.”
READ MORE ON RISHI SUNAK
MPs are threatening to force a vote in Parliament over the deal, after Boris Johnson gave MPs a say over the Aussie trade agreement last year.
Others suggested they could even go on vote strike over sky-high migration numbers — saying were sick of waiting for a strategy to bring them down.
One Tory MP told The Sun: "Many of us were shocked with the latest net migration figures.
"We can't fuel it through trade deals that further loosen our already porous visa rules.
"Anything that contributes towards increasing already intolerable levels of net migration will be met with strong resistance from sound conservatives who take their electoral mandate seriously.
"Enough is enough."
Another added: "The idea of visa access for hundreds of thousands more Indians would be a terrible idea - and I've told my whips so.
"This would be the final nail in the coffin for our promises to reduce net migration to the tens of thousands."
Another MP said: "Rishi sees it as his time to shine and wants it to be his trademark legacy. But for the right of the party - we are not happy at all."
No10 sources stressed a deal was "nowhere near" done and any suggestions of more student visas were "pure speculation".
The PM has promised to bring net migration down to the levels it was when he became PM - which was around 500,000 a year.
Most read in The Sun
A government spokesperson said: “The UK and India are committed to working towards the best trade deal possible for both sides.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
“While we cannot comment on ongoing negotiations, there are absolutely no plans to change our immigration policy to achieve this Free Trade Agreement.
“The Government remains committed to reducing net migration, while also supporting the Government’s priority of growing the economy. In May we carried out tough action to reduce migration by removing the right for most international students to bring family members.”