Major immigration crackdown unveiled with huge change to citizenship rules
Prime Minister Keir Starmer will declare a 'clean break from the past' as the Government publishes a long-awaited immigration blueprint on Monday
Keir Starmer will announce plans to make it harder for people to permanently settle in the UK as part of a major immigration crackdown.
People will need to live in Britain for a decade before they can apply for citizenship rather than the current five year threshold. However, high-skilled workers such as nurses, doctors, engineers and AI leaders could be fast-tracked under the plans, No10 said.
English language requirements will be tightened across all visa routes - and all adult dependents will be required to demonstrate a basic understanding of English.
The Prime Minister will declare a "clean break from the past" as the long-awaited immigration white paper is published on Monday.
The Government is battling to slash net migration - the difference between people arriving in the UK and leaving it - which ballooned to 728,000 in 2024 despite a string of Tory PMs promising to get numbers down.
It comes as Labour seeks to neutralise the threat from Nigel Farage after Reform UK swept to power in 10 councils in England and snatched a by-election win in Labour-held Runcorn and Helsby by six votes.
But the strict crackdown is likely to be controversial - with care providers branding a ban on overseas recruitment "cruel".
Under the plans, skilled foreign workers will need a degree to get a job in the UK unless they work in critical sectors like IT and construction.
Care homes will be ordered to recruit from the UK as a dedicated visa route will be closed.
Deportation rules will be reformed so the Home Office is notified of all foreign nationals convicted of offences, which officials say will make it easier to remove people who commit offences.
Mr Starmer will say: '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."
He will promise to create a system that is controlled but fair, recognising those who contribute to Britain while "restoring common sense and control to our borders".
The PM will add: 'This is a clean break from the past and 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.
'Lower net migration, higher skills and backing British workers – that is what this White Paper will deliver.'
On Sunday, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said she was aiming for a "substantial" reduction in net migration figures but refused to set a Tory-style target.
She said: "We're not going to take that really failed approach, because I think what we need to do is rebuild credibility and trust in the whole system."
Ms Cooper said around 50,000 fewer lower skilled visas would be approved next year due to changes to the skilled worker visa and the care visa.
She said the care sector needed to end the reliance on overseas staff and companies would still be able to recruit from a pool of people who came to the UK on care visas for jobs that did not exist.
Over 470 rogue care providers have had their licence to sponsor international staff suspended since 2022.
The Home Office estimates around 40,000 workers have been displaced, who will be able to rejoin the workforce.
Ms Cooper added: "We're doing it alongside saying we need to bring in a new fair pay agreement for care workers."
But the move was branded a "crushing blow to an already fragile sector", as care operators warned the move could deepen staffing shortages, risking harm to older and disabled people.
The Homecare Association said the sector was struggling to fill over 130,000 vacancies - despite more than 185,000 overseas recruits who joined the workforce between 2021/22 and 2023/24.
Chief Executive Dr Jane Townson said: "We urge the government to consult with the sector and agree interim measures allowing care providers to recruit sufficient staff.
"Otherwise, we risk repeating the chaos of 2021, when care shortages increased hospital admissions, delayed hospital discharges and left thousands without the help they needed.'
Martin Green, Care England's chief executive, accused the Government of "kicking us while we're already down".
"For years, the sector has been propping itself up with dwindling resources, rising costs, and mounting vacancies," he said. "International recruitment wasn't a silver bullet, but it was a lifeline.
"Taking it away now, with no warning, no funding, and no alternative, is not just short-sighted - it's cruel."
Unison General Secretary Christina McAnea said: "The NHS and the care sector would have collapsed long ago without the thousands of workers who've come to the UK from overseas."
She urged ministers to get on with fixing social care funding and implementing a promised fair pay agreement.
She added: "Politicians must stop describing care jobs as low-skilled. They are anything but that."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Every time Nigel Farage has fallen out with his colleagues
Nigel Farage's bust-up with Zia Yusuf is only the latest in a string of extraordinary sackings, resignations and break-ups in his political career. Mr Yusuf, the former Reform UK chairman, quit on Thursday following a disagreement over a Reform MP's call for a burka ban. But Mr Farage has fallen out with multiple senior figures in the party and its predecessors, Ukip and the Brexit Party. Godfrey Bloom Nigel Farage was forced to suspend the Ukip party whip from economist Godfrey Bloom after he described women at a party conference in 2013 as 'sluts'. Mr Bloom also hit journalist Michael Crick over the head with the conference brochure. Mr Farage, furious that one of his conference speeches had been overshadowed, said: 'We can't put up with it. We can't have any one individual, however fun or flamboyant or entertaining or amusing they are, we cannot have any one individual destroying Ukip's national conference and that is what he's done today.' Douglas Carswell Douglas Carswell was Ukip's first MP after defecting from the Conservatives in 2014. He won the Clacton seat twice for the party but soon fell out with Mr Farage, who accused him of trying to block efforts to put him in the House of Lords. The party leader branded Mr Carswell a 'Tory party posh boy' and accused him of trying to 'undermine everything we've stood for for a very long time'. Mr Carswell quit Ukip at the 2017 election to stand as an independent, but he lost to the Conservatives. Suzanne Evans Suzanne Evans was the most senior woman in Ukip but fell out with Mr Farage over his leadership style in 2015. She called for two of the Ukip leader's advisers to resign and praised Patrick O'Flynn, economy spokesman, after he accused Mr Farage of being 'snarling and aggressive'. Ms Evans later went on TV to say Mr Farage was seen as 'very divisive' – a move that saw her sacked and party officials told not to have any further contact with her. Diane James Diane James was elected leader of Ukip in 2016 after Mr Farage quit in the wake of the Brexit referendum victory. But within three weeks, he was back, after senior party figures refused to accept her as leader. The story of Mr Farage's role in Ms James' departure is not fully understood. Ben Habib After leaving Ukip in 2018, Mr Farage set up the Brexit Party, which campaigned for a final ending of ties with the EU, and later Reform UK. Its co-deputy leader was Ben Habib but he was sacked soon after last year's general election. He later quit Reform, saying Mr Farage needed to learn that the party 'should not be controlled by one man'. Asked what impact his departure would have, Mr Farage said: 'None whatsoever.' Rupert Lowe Businessman Rupert Lowe was one of five Reform MPs elected last year – but his ego clashed with that of Mr Farage. After he accused Mr Farage in an interview of acting like a 'messiah', Mr Lowe lost the party whip and was reported to police over allegations he had physically threatened Zia Yusuf, then party chairman. Mr Lowe said at the time: 'I am 67 years old, and I have a 67-year-long unblemished record with the law. These are false allegations, designed to maliciously smear my name and ruin my reputation after I dared to bruise [Nigel] Farage's ego.' A party source told The Telegraph: 'This is what happens when you mess with Nigel.'
The National
an hour ago
- The National
The SNP must not complain about Hamilton by-election humbling
'We cry to God Almighty, how can we escape this agony? Fool, don't you have hands? Or could it be God forgot to give you a pair? Sit and pray your nose doesn't run! Or, rather just wipe your nose and stop seeking a scapegoat.' – Epictetus I'm not preaching a religious message at you; you can ignore that part if you so wish. But this was the quote that came up in my Daily Stoic book for June 5, and I really felt that by the end of the Hamilton by-election it had become immensely relevant. Labour's Davy Russell, who had taken no part in any debates throughout the campaign and had had minimal interaction with the media, clinched a shock victory at South Lanarkshire Council HQ, gaining the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse Holyrood seat from the SNP. The cheer was so loud journalists could not hear the exact number of votes Labour had received, but the fact it started with an eight was enough. The bookies had Labour in third place, and you could sense the relief as I heard one campaigner say: 'I actually feel quite emotional.' READ MORE: SNP activists reveal HQ silenced Reform strategy concerns Meanwhile, bullets have left guns slower than the SNP crew dispersed from the count floor. I wanted to hear from Katy Loudon, but she was nowhere to be seen. After a third defeat in a row – following her losses in Rutherglen at the 2023 by-election and General Election – you wonder whether it may be the last time we see her at a parliamentary count as a candidate. SNP minister Mairi McAllan (below) did, however, choose to criticise Labour's campaign as 'dreadful' in the aftermath, and that's where I feel Epictetus' words come in. (Image: PA) Yes, it was shocking Russell did not show up for debates, and it may seem unfair that after their popularity has plummeted so much on the back of countless broken promises they still won. But winners they are. That is sport sometimes. You don't always win by playing pretty. While Labour's tactics were risky and made Russell look like he was running scared, they seem to have played a clever game and protected their local candidate by going back to basics – chapping doors, speaking to people and figuring out exactly where their voters lived. Their Get Out the Vote campaign appeared to be hugely successful. READ MORE: How did Labour win Hamilton by-election with invisible man candidate? No matter what they might have thought of Labour's approach, all that matters is it worked, and the SNP simply cannot be overheard complaining. Their tactic of framing this as a two-horse race between them and Reform failed and perhaps it is proof that negative campaigning – positioning themselves as the only party that can beat Reform – is not going to work come the Holyrood election next year. By-elections are often outliers, and it is sometimes tricky to draw solid conclusions from them. What we can say is Reform are going to get MSPs next year and neither Labour nor the SNP can afford to be complacent. Labour, after all, won on less than a third of the vote. Both parties must keep a close eye on this new adversary but nor can they get too caught up in their web. The SNP became distracted by the new kids on the block and took their eye off their game in the process. It is time they focused on themselves and their message. If they can do that, the rest, they will hope, will take care of itself.
Rhyl Journal
an hour ago
- Rhyl Journal
Kemi Badenoch refuses to kick Liz Truss out of Conservative Party
The Tory leader suggested such a move would be 'neither here nor there' for voters' perception of the party. In a speech on Thursday, shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride sought to distance the Conservatives from Ms Truss's mini-budget, saying the party needed to show 'contrition' to restore its economic credibility. In a furious response, Ms Truss accused Sir Mel of having 'kowtowed to the failed Treasury orthodoxy' and being 'set on undermining my plan for growth'. Asked by the BBC on Friday whether she would consider throwing former prime minister Ms Truss out of the Conservatives in a symbolic break with her short-lived, turbulent time in No 10, Mrs Badenoch replied: 'Is she still in the party?' Ms Truss, the former Conservative MP for South West Norfolk, is understood to be a Tory party member still. Speaking to the BBC, Mrs Badenoch said: 'What is really important is what Mel was saying yesterday. What he was saying was that the mini-budget did not balance. It wasn't tax cuts, it was the … £150 billion of spending increases on energy bills that did not make sense.' Pressed whether she believed the mini-budget had damaged the Conservative brand, Mrs Badenoch said: 'Well, look at what happened, people didn't understand why we had done that, and so our reputation for economic competence was damaged.' When asked again why she would not consider kicking Ms Truss out of the party, the Tory leader said: 'It is not about any particular individual. I don't want to be commenting on previous prime ministers. 'They've had their time. What am I going to do now? Removing people from a political party is neither here nor there in terms of what it is your viewers want to see.' After insisting Ms Truss was not in Parliament anymore, Mrs Badenoch said her party needed to 'focus on how we're going to get this country back on track'. 'What we have right now is a Labour Government, it's Keir Starmer. We need to stop talking about several prime ministers ago and talk about the Prime Minister we've got now and what he's doing to the country,' the Tory leader said. Ms Truss this week appeared in a video to promote the Irish whiskey brand of bare-knuckle fighter Dougie Joyce, who was once jailed for attacking a 78-year-old man in a pub in 2022.
