Starmer to toughen migration rules in challenge to Reform

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 a swathe of new measures to "tighten up" the immigration system.

- Rajeev Syal

After a surge in voter support for Reform UK, the prime minister, Keir Starmer, will announce today that overseas arrivals should commit "to learning our language" and will promise to overhaul a "broken system" that encourages businesses to "bring in lower paid workers".

The government will also end the right of foreign workers to automatically apply for settlement in the UK after five years, extending their wait to 10 years. The announcements are part of Labour's long-awaited white paper on immigration to be put before parliament today, and follow the success of Nigel Farage's party in local elections this month.

Also included will be plans to deport more foreign criminals, tell employers they must train UK staff, and implement requirements that skilled workers entering Britain have a degree.

Net migration, the difference between the number moving to the UK and the number leaving, stood at 728,000 in the year to June 2024. Under the last Conservative government, the figure exceeded 900,000.

"Every area of the immigration system, including work, family and study, will be tightened up so we have more control," the prime minister is expected to say today.

In language more closely associated with populist parties, Starmer will say the white paper "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."