There has been a sharp fall in the number of overseas health and care workers applying for visas in the first few months of this year compared with the year before.
Just 12,400 people applied for the Health and Care Worker visa from January to April this year, according to the latest statistics published by the government on Wednesday.
During the same period last year, 50,900 applications were made – 76% more than this year.
The dramatic drop in applications comes after visa rules changed so the minimum salary required increased from £26,000 to £38,700.
Social care workers are now also no longer able to bring any dependents on their visa.
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The Princess of Wales joined the Royal Family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for the Trooping the Colour flypast – after making her first public appearance since the announcement of her cancer diagnosis.
Kate, 42, wearing a pale outfit, was earlier pictured arriving at Buckingham Palace in a car sat alongside her children and her husband the Prince of Wales ahead of the event to celebrate the King’s official birthday.
The princess, who has been receiving treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer since late February, and her three children Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, were cheered by crowds along The Mall as they left the palace in a carriage for the ceremony.
The future queen looked relaxed as she travelled along one of London’s most famous thoroughfares with her family in a carriage.
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0:37
Kate’s first public appearance this year
She could be seen smiling and talking to her children in the carriage before they arrived at Horse Guards Parade in Whitehall.
William rode on horseback for the procession, alongside the Princess Royal, and the Duke of Edinburgh.
The King, who is also undergoing cancer treatment, rode in a carriage with the Queen, a departure from last year because of his illness, and inspected the officers and guardsmen from the coach rather than from a horse.
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When the royal carriages finally came to a stop, Louis was the first to leave, followed by his elder brother George, and sister Charlotte.
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Finally, Kate stepped down wearing a Jenny Packham dress, hat by Philip Treacy, and the Irish Guards Regimental Brooch, as she is the regiment’s colonel.
In another change from last year, Kate did not join senior family members on a dais, but watched the military spectacle – also known as the Birthday Parade – from a balcony in the Duke of Wellington’s former office with her children.
Prince Louis, six, at one point seemed to be distracted by a blind cord and was seen yawning while watching the parade before dancing along during the quick march of the Scots Guards to Highland Laddie.
Heavy rain began to fall as the royal procession made its way back to Buckingham Palace but the King and Queen, as well as Kate and her children, were protected from the downpour in their covered carriage.
Princess Charlotte, nine, smiled and waved enthusiastically to the crowds who braved the weather, while her brothers also smiled and waved to the sea of umbrellas along The Mall.
A 41-gun salute was then fired by the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery in nearby Green Park before Kate and her family joined the King and Queen, as well as other royals, on the Buckingham Palace balcony to watch the RAF flypast.
They smiled and waved to the cheering crowds before standing proudly as the national anthem was played, with the flypast ending with the Red Arrows trailing their trademark red, white and blue colours.
Ahead of the event, Kate said: “I’m looking forward to attending the King’s Birthday Parade this weekend with my family and hope to join a few public engagements over the summer, but equally knowing I am not out of the woods yet.
“I am learning how to be patient, especially with uncertainty.
“Taking each day as it comes, listening to my body, and allowing myself to take this much needed time to heal.”
Her appearance was in doubt after she missed the final Trooping rehearsal last weekend.
This is Kate’s first official outing of 2024 after she missed engagements at the start of the year when she was admitted to hospital for abdominal treatment.
At the time her condition was thought to be non-cancerous, but tests after the successful operation found the disease, and Kate disclosed the diagnosis in March.
A time frame has not yet been set for Kate’s return to a full schedule of public engagements.
People are “really annoyed” the government has not always kept its promises, a Tory minister has said as he acknowledged the election was “tough” after 14 years in power.
Speaking to Sky News Johnny Mercer admitted the campaign had been “up and down”, but insisted the polls showing the party lagging behind were not reflected on the doorstep.
He made his comments as Rishi Sunak remained away from the campaign trail for another day after attending the G7 summit in Italy.
The prime minister was also due to attend the Trooping the Colour ceremony to celebrate the official birthday of the King before jetting off again to attend a Ukraine Peace summit in Switzerland.
Mr Mercer told Sky News: “I’ve never found six out of ten people on the doors who want to pay more in tax in Plymouth.
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“I respect all these surveys. I respect all the polls. There’s one poll that matters on 4 July.
“I don’t find six out of 10 people want to pay more tax. I find they want to bring their taxes down.
“They want better public services. They understand the challenge in the NHS.
“They also understand it’s got record funding and record numbers of doctors and nurses. But we’re up against a huge rise in demand, particularly under the pandemic, which is really, really difficult.”
He added: “Of course, people are annoyed. People are really annoyed that we’ve made promises and that we haven’t always met them.
“I think we’ve got a job of work to get over how hard the prime minister works on this, how difficult government is.
“But, no, I think people want to pay less tax. You have a clear choice in this election now, haven’t you.
“You have got the Conservatives clearly saying we’re going to reduce and continue to reduce tax… and a Labour government coming in, who is clearly going to raise taxes.”
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Mr Mercer went on: “This election is tough, right? And it was always going to be tough after 14 years in power, and clearly the campaign’s been up and down as well.”
But insisting the Tories had a “bold plan”, he warned: “If you vote for Reform, you’re going to get a Labour government, you’ll get unchecked power from a Labour government to come in and change the face of this country into something that I don’t believe it is, I don’t think it is a left-wing country.”
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He said: “Anyone looking at those leaflets can see that I’m in the Conservative Party and everybody has always known I’m in the Conservative Party.”
He added: “It’s blue… It’s got me on there talking about my record in government. So which part of it is not clear that I’m in the Conservative Party?
“I think it does say on the back who I’m campaigning for. “
Meanwhile, Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall defended her party’s claim NHS waiting lists could rise to 10 million despite a thinktank saying it was “highly unlikely”.
Responding to the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ criticism, Ms Kendall told Sky News: “We’re saying that if there’s another five years of the Conservatives, you could see 10 million people waiting in pain or feeling they have to try and pay to go private to deal with their problem.”
She said it was a “reasonable assumption” that was based on what had already happened under the Conservatives and “if the trend continues in the future, as it has done in the past, that’s what we’re likely to see”.
The Tories have dismissed the Labour attack as “scaremongering”.
Elsewhere, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey is on the campaign trail in Surrey as he continues his party’s efforts to chip away at the “blue wall”, a collection of typically safe Conservative seats in southern England.
Other candidates in Plymouth Moor View are:
Shaun Hooper, Reform UK Sarah Martin, Liberal Democrat Georgia Nelson, Greens Fred Thomas, Labour
The Princess of Wales joined the Royal Family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for the Trooping the Colour flypast – after making her first public appearance since the announcement of her cancer diagnosis.
Kate, 42, wearing a pale outfit, was earlier pictured arriving at Buckingham Palace in a car sat alongside her children and her husband the Prince of Wales ahead of the event to celebrate the King’s official birthday.
The princess, who has been receiving treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer since late February, and her three children Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, were cheered by crowds along The Mall as they left the palace in a carriage for the ceremony.
The future queen looked relaxed as she travelled along one of London’s most famous thoroughfares with her family in a carriage.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
0:37
Kate’s first public appearance this year
She could be seen smiling and talking to her children in the carriage before they arrived at Horse Guards Parade in Whitehall.
William rode on horseback for the procession, alongside the Princess Royal, and the Duke of Edinburgh.
The King, who is also undergoing cancer treatment, rode in a carriage with the Queen, a departure from last year because of his illness, and inspected the officers and guardsmen from the coach rather than from a horse.
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
When the royal carriages finally came to a stop, Louis was the first to leave, followed by his elder brother George, and sister Charlotte.
Advertisement
Finally, Kate stepped down wearing a Jenny Packham dress, hat by Philip Treacy, and the Irish Guards Regimental Brooch, as she is the regiment’s colonel.
In another change from last year, Kate did not join senior family members on a dais, but watched the military spectacle – also known as the Birthday Parade – from a balcony in the Duke of Wellington’s former office with her children.
Prince Louis, six, at one point seemed to be distracted by a blind cord and was seen yawning while watching the parade before dancing along during the quick march of the Scots Guards to Highland Laddie.
Heavy rain began to fall as the royal procession made its way back to Buckingham Palace but the King and Queen, as well as Kate and her children, were protected from the downpour in their covered carriage.
Princess Charlotte, nine, smiled and waved enthusiastically to the crowds who braved the weather, while her brothers also smiled and waved to the sea of umbrellas along The Mall.
A 41-gun salute was then fired by the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery in nearby Green Park before Kate and her family joined the King and Queen, as well as other royals, on the Buckingham Palace balcony to watch the RAF flypast.
They smiled and waved to the cheering crowds before standing proudly as the national anthem was played, with the flypast ending with the Red Arrows trailing their trademark red, white and blue colours.
Ahead of the event, Kate said: “I’m looking forward to attending the King’s Birthday Parade this weekend with my family and hope to join a few public engagements over the summer, but equally knowing I am not out of the woods yet.
“I am learning how to be patient, especially with uncertainty.
“Taking each day as it comes, listening to my body, and allowing myself to take this much needed time to heal.”
Her appearance was in doubt after she missed the final Trooping rehearsal last weekend.
This is Kate’s first official outing of 2024 after she missed engagements at the start of the year when she was admitted to hospital for abdominal treatment.
At the time her condition was thought to be non-cancerous, but tests after the successful operation found the disease, and Kate disclosed the diagnosis in March.
A time frame has not yet been set for Kate’s return to a full schedule of public engagements.