The UK risks becoming an “island of strangers” without tougher immigration policies, Keir Starmer has said, as official estimates show there could be 100,000 fewer migrants every year under new policies outlined on Monday.
The prime minister said his government would “take back control of our borders” and close the book on a “squalid chapter” of rising inward migration as he unveiled a radical crackdown.
He was speaking at a Downing Street press conference ahead of the publication of an immigration white paper which sets out details of how the government intends to introduce restrictions across all forms of visas to the UK.
A new Home Office assessment showing the impact of changes to study and work visas and the introduction of English language tests said there will be about 100,000 fewer people entering the UK. It suggests that net migration could fall to 300,000 by 2029.
Net migration, the difference between the number of people moving to the UK and the number leaving, was 728,000 in the 12 months to June 2024. Under the last Conservative government, the figure surged to more than 900,000.
Starmer said at a Downing Street press conference on Monday that he wanted levels of immigration to have fallen significantly by the end of this parliament, without setting a numerical target.
He said: “Nations depend on rules, fair rules. Sometimes they are written down, often they are not, but either way, they give shape to our values, guide us towards our rights, of course, but also our responsibilities, the obligations we owe to each other.
“In a diverse nation like ours, and I celebrate that, these rules become even more important. Without them, we risk becoming an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together.
Adults accompanying foreign workers to the UK will be expected to pass an English language test and care homes will be prevented from recruiting staff from abroad as part of the new measures.
The government will also end the right of foreign workers to automatically apply for settlement in the UK after five years, instead extending their wait to 10 years.
Also included will be plans to deport more foreign criminals, tell employers they must train UK staff and requirements that skilled workers entering Britain have a degree.
Changes will also be made to the interpretation of human rights laws to reduce the number of people claiming “exceptional circumstances” over the right to family life so they can remain in the UK.
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Under the white paper proposals, graduate visas will be reduced to 18 months, and a new 6% levy on income that universities generate from international students will be introduced. That money will then be used to supplement domestic student costs.
There will also be a 32% increase in the immigration skills surcharge paid by employers who hire skilled workers from abroad.
The announcements are part of Labour’s long-awaited white paper on immigration to be put before parliament on Monday, and follow the electoral success of Nigel Farage’s party in the local elections this month.
Starmer insisted that tackling migration would not harm growth, saying the theory that higher immigration numbers lead to higher growth had been “tested” by the previous government and “that link doesn’t hold”.
“The theory that higher migration numbers necessarily lead to higher growth has been tested in the last four years. “We’ve had the highest net migration when the last government lost control, to nearly 1 million, and stagnant growth. And so that link doesn’t hold on that evidence,” he said.
Echoing the slogan used by Brexit campaigners during the 2016 EU referendum, Starmer said: “We will deliver what you’ve asked for time and again, and we will take back control of our borders.”
He said the numbers would fall “significantly” but declined to put a figure on it.
“I’m promising it [net migration] will fall significantly, and I do want to get it down by the end of this parliament, significantly.”
In his opening remarks, he said he would be prepared to introduce further measures.
“If we do need to take further steps, if we do need to do more to release pressure on housing and our public services, then mark my words we will,” he added.
Asked if Labour MPs might be “squeamish” about introducing further curbs on net migration, Starmer said the party has as a “core value” the idea that immigration should be controlled. “We should be choosing who we want, higher skills, the high talent routes into our country. And it must be fair,” he said.
