UK govt toughens immigration plans as hard-right gains

LONDON: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed on Monday to “finally take back control” of Britain´s borders as his government unveiled policies designed to reduce legal immigration and fend off rising support for the hard right.

Labour leader Starmer announced he was ending an “experiment in open borders” that saw net migration rise to nearly one million people under the previous Conservative government, which lost last year´s general election.

The government´s Immigration White Paper policy document includes plans to cut overseas care workers and increase from five to 10 years the length of time people will have to live in UK before qualifying for settlement and citizenship.

English language rules will also be strengthened, with all adult dependents required to demonstrate a basic understanding, while the length of time students can stay in the UK after completing their studies will be reduced.

Starmer said the policies would “finally take back control of our borders”, recalling the pro-Brexit slogan used at the height of the campaign to leave the European Union in 2016.

Labour vowed in its general election manifesto last year to significantly reduce net migration, which stood at 728,000 in the 12 months to last June. It had peaked at 906,000 in 2023 after averaging 200,000 for most of the 2010s.

Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who voted for the UK to remain part of the EU, is under renewed pressure to tackle immigration following the anti-immigration Reform party´s gains in recent local elections.