Starmer says migrants must ‘earn right' to live in UK

Sir Keir Starmer has said those coming to the UK will have to earn the right” to stay, as Labour unveils sweeping reforms designed to slash net migration and take on the threat posed by Nigel Farage and Reform.

- KATE DEVLIN WHITEHALL EDITOR

The prime minister said the crackdown would boost economic growth, and he described being in Britain as a “privilege”.

In what he dubbed a “clean break from the past”, the changes include forcing migrants to wait 10 years, not five, to apply for permanent residency – unless they can prove a significant contribution – tougher language tests and a ban on recruiting care workers from overseas.

No 10 said that, as net migration numbers swelled to more than 900,000 a year in 2023, “public services were stretched, housing costs soared and employers swapped skills investment for cheap overseas labour”.

The shadow home secretary Chris Philp yesterday admitted the last Conservative government made a “catastrophic mistake” on immigration, leaving it “far, far too high”.

Legal as well as illegal immigration featured heavily in the recent local elections, where Reform won 10 councils, almost 700 seats and took Runcorn and Helsby from Labour in a by-election.