‘If you go to Saudi, it’s sunny’: foreign care workers could quit UK after clampdown

Ban on bringing dependants has raised fears that England’s care staff shortage will only worsen

It’s sunnier in Dubai, the visa lasts longer in the US and the wages are better in Canada. Many foreign care workers had already been thinking of quitting Britain for similar jobs elsewhere before the home secretary announced on Monday that dependants of new applicants would no longer be welcome.

Experts say the move, effective from next spring, will only make England’s severe care staff shortage worse amid international competition for people willing to look after society’s most vulnerable on low pay.