British PM Toughens Migration Rules, Including Language Tests

Move Comes as Anti-Immigration Party Surges in Polls, Net Migration Quadruples

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LONDON - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would end the country's "experiment in open borders" with tougher plans to curb migration, seeking to head off the growing electoral threat from Mr Nigel Farage's populist Reform UK party.

"We risk becoming an island of strangers," Mr Starmer said at a press conference from Downing Street on May 12, where he set out plans to increase English-speaking requirements for migrants and make it harder for them to stay in the country. "I believe we need to reduce immigration significantly."

Mr Starmer's plans, which include ending automatic settlement and citizenship rights for anyone living in the country for more than five years, come against the backdrop of a surge in popularity for Mr Farage's anti-immigration Reform and a quadrupling in net migration to Britain in recent years.

Further details are to be unveiled in a policy document that also includes proposals to raise language standards across "every immigration route" and end overseas recruitment by care companies.

While the plans have been in the works for months, the need to make progress was given extra urgency by local elections at the start of May in which Labour lost almost two-thirds of the seats it was defending, while Reform won hundreds, taking control of its first local councils in an astonishing surge for a party that is less than seven years old.

"When people come to our country, they should also commit to integration and to learning our language," Mr Starmer said in the statement.

"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."

Mr Starmer backed Britain remaining in the European Union at the time of the 2016 referendum but has since said he wants to make a success of Brexit.