Starmer undertakes to cut migration in the United Kingdom

Photo of author

By [email protected]


On Monday, the British government promised to tighten immigration rules and make it difficult for new arrivals to stay permanently in the country, in a sign of the growing political pressure on Prime Minister Kiir Starmer to reduce the numbers of immigration.

Under the plans, visas for some minimal skills, language requirements for migrants and the length of time will be reduced for most newcomers to qualify for citizenship or the right to stay permanently, from five years to 10.

In a letter issued by Downing Street, Mr. Starmer, who leads the ruling Labor Party, accused his predecessors of allowing immigration to secede from control and create an experience with effective borders effectively.

He said: “Today, the labor government closes this laboratory. The experiment has ended. We are backing control of our borders,” and adopted the slogan used by pro -commercial cards activists before Britain’s referendum to leave the European Union in 2016.

“We risk to become an island of strangers, not a nation walking together,” added Mr. Starmer, without his new measures.

The measures announced on Monday are only related to legal immigration. The former conservative leaders promised to reduce immigration to specific goals, starting with Prime Minister David Cameron, who pledged to obtain a clear migration from hundreds of thousands per year to “to”Tens of thousands“A policy that he never received, which has become a political responsibility for his party.

Partially as a result, Mr. Starmer’s plan does not include any concrete targets for the number of legal immigrants who will be allowed every year, instead they choose a wide pledge.

“If the ministers need to take more steps to release pressure on housing and public services,” said Mr. Starmer from Downing Street, adding that if the ministers need to take more steps to release pressure on housing and public services, “My words put,”

The campaign contains some of the risks to the government at a time when the economy is flat, visible cracks in the care system for the elderly, and some employers complain of lack of employment. But Mr. Starmer rejected the argument that migration is widely, by definition, has strengthened economic growth.

His solid position reflects how migration again is a hot issue in Britain. Earlier this month, Nigel Faraj, the leader of the UK Reform Party to combat immigration, won a great victory in the regional and municipal elections-which represents a major setback for Mr. Starmer and opposition governors.

Senior government ministers speculation of this reform It may appear as a major competitor for the Labor Party Through the following general elections, which may explain a new acute tone of Mr. Starmer who wrote on social media: “If you want to live in the United Kingdom, you should speak English. This is sound instinct.”

But some critics argue that this approach can be validated by the right -wing agenda of Mr. Faraj and the prejudice of fuel. “The rise in the anti -immigrant speech from the government is shameful and dangerous,” wrote Nadia Whitom, a Labor Party. On social media.

Sunder Katawala, director of the British Future, a research institute specializing in immigration and integration, said that the government needs to show that it is able to manage immigration, but wondered about the language of Mr. Starmer. He said: “I think they should do that, with a lot of this type of content, but in a more balanced tone.”

In response to the announcement that the career visas for care workers will end, Martin Green, CEO of England, who represents service providers, said it is a “overwhelmingly fragile strike”, and that the government “kicked us while we are already.”

Universities, UK, which represents the colleges of higher education, called on ministers to “think carefully” about the impact of a new plan planned on international students’ fees.

Immigration was a great topic in the period before the 2016 referendum, when 52 percent of the British voted in favor of Britain’s exit from the European Union. Some of the largest defenders of Britain’s exit from the European Union, including Boris Johnson and Mr. Farraj, promised to “restore control” on immigration policy if Britain leaves the European Union.

But after Britain left the European Union, under the leadership of Mr. Johnson as Prime Minister, the net annual immigration doubled, and its peak reached more than 900,000 in the year ending in June 2023.

Meanwhile, asylum seekers from France increased the arrival of small boats that are not worthy of merit, and Mr. Farage benefited from both cases.

Critics of Mr. Starmer on the right argue that he will not go far and note that because of the restrictions set by the last government at the end of his time in power, the figures are expected to decrease anyway. Reform in the UK wants to freeze what you call “non -essential immigration”, although it has Unprecedented What this means in practice. Conservatives call for a binding annual ceiling.

But the conservatives, who were expelled from the authority last year after 14 years, have a difficult record to defend it. The successive conservative governments promised to reduce the net immigration to less than 100,000 a year, but the matter ended heading the net immigration numbers Nine times This level.



https://static01.nyt.com/images/2025/05/12/multimedia/12int-uk-migration-qvwz/12int-uk-migration-qvwz-facebookJumbo.jpg

Source link

Leave a Comment