Rishi Sunak affirms tougher UK visa rules amid Tory criticism (Image: Getty)

       Rishi Sunak has insisted his plans to make it harder to bring overseas family members to the UK will go ahead in full in 2025.

       The PM faced a backlash from the Tory Right after rowing back on reforms that would block migrants joining households earning under ￡38,700.

       Ministers announced the minimum salary level will be raised from ￡18,600 to ￡29,000 in the spring instead.

       Mr Sunak said levels of migration are “far too high and they have got to come down”.

       The visa changes are part of his plan to reduce numbers by 300,000, which he said is “more than anyone’s ever done before”.

       He added: “Regarding the salary for families, I think the principle here is absolutely right that if people are bringing dependents into this country as part of their family they must be able to support them."

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       “That’s why we have a salary threshold for that."

       “Now we are increasing the salary threshold significantly and we are doing exactly as we said we were doing."

       “We are just doing it in two stages. So, it will go up in a few months’ time, then it will go up again, the full amount, in 2025.”

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       The Tory Right said lowering the earnings threshold hike to ￡29,000 was a “regrettable sign of weakness”.

       David Jones, deputy chairman of the European Research Group, said: “The latest net migration figures very starkly showed the extent of the crisis we face. Increasing the threshold was absolutely necessary to address that crisis."

       “The Government should have stuck to its guns. Yesterday’s decision was a regrettable sign of weakness, made worse by the fact that Parliament was not sitting and unable to interrogate ministers.”

       Jonathan Gullis, a Tory former minister, said: “This decision is deeply disappointing and undermines our efforts.”

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