The Government is launching a new initiative to fill low-paid “migrant roles” with jobless Britons, The Telegraph has learned. Officials at the Department for Work and Pensions are drawing up measures aimed at encouraging benefit claimants to fill vacancies in sectors reliant on low-paid migrants. Last month, the salary threshold required for skilled foreign workers to get a visa rose to £38,700 a year, up from the previous £26,200, as part of a wider Government drive to reduce net migration. The policy has been criticised by some business leaders who warn that companies are already struggling to recruit enough staff, and tightening the visa rules will make it even harder. Mel Stride, the Work and Pensions Secretary, is leading a new push to resist calls to relax migration rules and instead focus on filling job vacancies with the millions of out-of-work Britons. Statistics released last month show that the number of those classed as “economically inactive”, meaning they are neither in a job nor looking for one, has ballooned to 9.25 million post-pandemic. Most of that increase can be attributed to a huge spike in long-term sickness, which has added 717,000 people to the benefits bill since the start of...