United Kingdom: Starmer pledges plan to "take back control" of the border

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed Monday to "finally take back control of his country's borders" as he announced a plan to reduce immigration.

"All areas of the immigration system, including work, family reunification and study visas, will be strengthened so that we can better control them," he told a press conference.

Starmer said his Labor government's document will lead to a "significant reduction in immigration."

Home Affairs Minister Yvette Cooper is due to present the details of this roadmap to Parliament on Monday.

At Monday's press conference at Downing Street, Starmer said the implementation of her plan "will be tougher than ever and the number of immigrants will fall."

Starmer opened the press conference with the phrase "finally regaining control of our borders," typically used by supporters of Brexit.

"During the previous government, starting with the people who used that phrase, it was the complete opposite. Between 2019 and 2023, as they went around the country telling people they would reduce immigration, immigration quadrupled, until by 2023 it was almost 1 million people. That's almost the population of Birmingham. Our second largest city. That's not control, that's chaos," the prime minister said.

Starmer called the situation the "experiment of a nation with open borders, carried out by a country that voted for control."

From now on it will be more difficult to obtain a permanent residence permit, the prime minister noted, with ten years of residence in the country being required, instead of the current five.

Similarly, adult dependents of a visa holder will have to demonstrate a sufficient level of English to be allowed to come to theUnited Kingdom.

The plan also calls for a tightening of the conditions for the granting of work visas, the second largest source of foreign settlement in the country.

"For years, our system has incentivized companies to bring in lower-paid workers, instead of investing in our young people," Starmer said, claiming to want "a clean break with the past."

Starmer changes his stance on Illegal immigration

In June 2024, Starmer confirmed to the BBC that Labour would resume the processing of asylum applications from people arriving illegally in the United Kingdom.

Under a law passed in July 2023, tens of thousands of people, including boat arrivals, were blocked from accessing refugee status.

In statements to BBC Breakfast, the prime minister said in June 2024 that if elected at the general election, Labour would allow asylum claims from illegal arrivals to be considered.

"For years, the system in this country has operated on the basis that if someone applies for asylum, they get processed," he said at the time.

"Does anyone seriously believe that not processing applications, when record numbers are now coming across the Channel, works as a deterrent?"

Farage's right wing gains ground in the legislature

The right-wing Reform UK party, led by Nigel Farage, won a parliamentary by-election in England on May 2, gaining ground in various local elections at the expense of the Labour Party, which was facing its first test since coming to power in July.

Labour lost one seat in Parliament, in a northwest England constituency, to Reform UK.