PM targets asylum rights to reduce UK's 'pull factors'

As he steps up attack on Farage, Starmer aims to reinterpret ECHR laws and toughen access for some migrants to Britain

- DAVID MADDOX, MILLIE COOKE, KATE DEVLIN

Migrants granted asylum in the UK will no longer get automatic rights to settle in the country or bring family members with them, the prime minister has announced as part of the government's immigration crackdown.

The measures, which will see an end to automatic family reunion rights and alter the requirements for long-term settlement in the UK, are aimed at reducing the “pull factors”, which the government says are “driving high levels of illegal migration to the UK”.

It comes after the prime minister made a dramatic U-turn over international human rights laws that have been criticised for making it harder to deport asylum seekers.

Yesterday, Sir Keir Starmer said the government will review the way British courts apply European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) rules, which could mean asylum seekers are no longer able to avoid being sent back to their home country by claiming they could face torture as a result.

And they may be barred from demanding the right to stay in the UK on the grounds that it would separate them from their families.

It marks another major policy reversal by Sir Keir, a former human rights lawyer, who has defended the ECHR in the past. It also comes as the prime minister steps up his attacks on Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, dubbing the small boats he is trying to stop crossing the English Channel “Farage boats”.

Meanwhile, Shabana Mahmood announced a major crackdown on migration through a radical overhaul of the main route for immigrants gaining British citizenship in the UK.

Under tougher measures unveiled by the home secretary, migrants who want to remain in the UK will have to learn English to a high standard, have a clean criminal record and volunteer in their community to be eligible for indefinite leave to remain.