Panicking Starmer admits mass immigration risks making Britain an 'island of strangers' as he tries to head off Reform surge - but STILL won't put a cap on numbers
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Keir Starmer admitted mass immigration risks making Britain an 'island of strangers' today as he scrambles to blunt the threat from Reform.
The PM deployed the 'take back control' Brexit slogan at a press conference in Downing Street as he pledged to end the 'betrayal' of reliance on cheap foreign labour.
Sir Keir accused the Tories of overseeing an explosion in numbers while in power, saying the system seemed 'designed to permit abuse' and was 'contributing to the forces that are slowly pulling our country apart'.
He said he would give Brits what they had 'asked for time and time again' and 'significantly' reduce legal inflows.
In a pivotal moment, he also rejected the Treasury orthodoxy that high immigration drives growth - pointing out the economy has stagnated in recent years.
Under the blueprint, skills thresholds will be hiked and rules on fluency in English toughened.
Migrants will also be required to wait 10 years for citizenship rather than the current five, and face deportation for even lower-level crimes.
However, doubts have been raised about whether the White Paper proposals will have a big enough impact - as it does not include any targets or the hard annual cap being demanded by critics.
Sir Keir underlined his determination that the changes will mean 'migration numbers fall' but added: 'If we do need to take further steps... then mark my words we will.'
He refused to guarantee that net migration will fall every year from now, saying: 'I do want to get it down by the end of this Parliament significantly.'
The premier said: 'Let me put it this way, nations depend on rules, fair rules.
'Sometimes they're written down, often they're 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.
'Now 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.'
The announcement comes less than a fortnight after Reform UK rode a wave of rising public anger on immigration to triumph in the local elections, delivering a string of damaging defeats to Labour.
Home Office aides are said to fear that without deep-rooted reforms, annual net migration will settle even higher than the 340,000 level projected by the Office for National Statistics.
There are concerns it will end up closer to 525,000 by 2028 - when the country will be preparing for a general election - because migrants are staying for longer than previously thought. The rate stood at 728,000 in the year to June last year.
However, the Treasury has been resisting the most dramatic steps for fear of further damaging the ailing economy.
Sir Keir promised the plan 'will finally take back control of our borders and close the book on a squalid chapter for our politics, our economy and our country'.
He added: 'Take back control.' Everyone knows that slogan, and everyone knows what it meant on immigration, or at least that's what people thought.
'Because what followed from the previous government, starting with the people who used that slogan, was the complete opposite.
'Between 2019 and 2023, even as they were going round our country, telling people with a straight face that they would get immigration down, net migration quadrupled, until in 2023 it reached nearly one million.
'That's about the population of Birmingham, our second largest city. That's not control. It's chaos.'
Sir Keir said the country had been suffering under a 'system that encourages businesses to bring in lower-paid workers, rather than invest in our young people'.
'That is the Britain this broken system has created. Every area of the immigration system, including work, family and study, will be tightened up so we have more control. Enforcement will be tougher than ever and migration numbers will fall,' he said.
'This is a clean break from the past and will ensure settlement in this country is a privilege that must be earned, not a right.
'And when people come to our country, they should also commit to integration and to learning our language. Lower net migration, higher skills and backing British workers – that is what this White Paper will deliver.'
Sir Keir said the problems risked making Britain 'an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together'.
He said: 'So when you have an immigration system that seems almost designed to permit abuse, that encourages some businesses to bring in lower paid workers rather than invest in our young people, or simply one that is sold by politicians to the British people on an entirely false premise, then you are not championing growth.
'You are not championing justice or however else people defend the status quo. You're actually contributing to the forces that are slowly pulling our country apart.'
However, critics said the plans were nothing new and questioned Labour's appetite to implement them.
A tweet by the Prime Minister yesterday, in which he said 'British workers – I've got your back' was also mocked given that, just last month, his party increased National Insurance contributions for businesses, leading many to cut jobs while others have slowed or stopped hiring.
Under today's proposals, migrants will be required to spend a decade in the UK before they can apply for citizenship and will need to have a good grasp of English.
The White Paper will also attempt to end the scandal of failed asylum seekers and foreign criminals using human rights laws to block deportation.
Ministers are expected to change the law to constrain judges' interpretation of elements of the European Convention on Human Rights.
They will target Article 8, which protects the right to a family life and is often used by lawyers to block removal on spurious reasoning.
However, ministers faced a backlash from the care sector yesterday, with a warning of possible collapse, after Ms Cooper said she would ban recruiting from overseas, while demanding companies train British workers.
Ms Cooper said the dedicated care worker visa will be ended, insisting firms can no longer rely on 'recruiting from abroad'.
That measure together with returning the skills thresholds for work visas to degree level will cut visa numbers by 50,000 a year, she suggested.
Employers will be encouraged to 'develop domestic training plans to boost British skills and recruitment levels' instead.
Alongside legal migration, the government is also facing a massive challenge on Channel boats.
More than 11,500 people have made the perilous crossing this year – a record level.
The number of people claiming asylum climbed from 91,811 in 2023 to a new high of 108,138 last year.
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