PM promises tougher visa rules to fix 'broken' migration system

Vocabulary: 390, Words: 848

1Sir Keir Starmer has promised to overhaul a "broken" immigration system, with plans to tighten English tests for all visa applicants and their adult dependents among the reforms being considered.

2Migrants will also have to wait 10 years to apply to settle in the UK, instead of automatically gaining settled status after five years, under the plans.

3Labour's long-awaited migration rules, to be published on Monday, will "create a system that is controlled, selective and fair," the prime minister said.

4Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the idea Sir Keir "is tough on immigration is a joke" and promised to push Parliament to introduce cap on migration.

5Labour have signalled the plan to raise English language requirements across every immigration route into the UK, though have not set out full details.

6For the first time, adult dependents will also be required to show basic language skills to help them integrate, find jobs and avoid exploitation.

7The BBC has been told the changes are likely to require a change to primary legislation, delaying implementation until the next parliamentary session in 2026.

8In a statement ahead of his speech on Monday, Sir Keir said: "When people come to our country, they should also commit to integration and to learning our language."

9Critics have warned the rules may split families if partners or parents struggle to learn English.

10But research suggests that migrants themselves consider language important.

11In 2021, nine-out-of-ten migrants reported speaking English well, according to analysis by the Oxford University Migration Observatory.

12Only 1% of migrants self-reported not being able to speak English at all. 13But those with poor English skills were much less likely to be employed, the analysis found.

14The move is part of a wider effort to "tighten up" what the prime minister called a "broken" immigration system.

15The changes will also end automatic settlement in the UK after five years. 16Most migrants will need to stay at least ten years before they can apply for settle status and begin the path to gaining full citizenship.

17At the same time, a "fast-track" settlement will be established for nurses, engineers, AI experts and others who "genuinely contribute to Britain's growth and society", Sir Keir said.

18A ten-year route to settlement would make the UK "more restrictive than most other high-income countries," Madeleine Sumption, Director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, told BBC News.

19The main impact of the change will be "more visa-fee revenue to the Home Office", because people on temporary visas pay ongoing fees to be here, Ms Sumption said.

20A longer settlement process will also make it "harder for migrants to settle in, because more will lack the rights that come with permanent status", she added.

21But Sir Keir described the plans as a "clean break from the past" that will "ensure settlement in this country is a privilege that must be earned, not a right".

22Successive governments have tried unsuccessfully to reduce net migration, which is the number of people coming to the UK minus the number leaving.

23Net migration climbed to a record 906,000 in June 2023, and last year it stood at 728,000.

24The Immigration White Paper, brings together months of research by officials and will lay out Labour's plan to get tougher on migration in the wake of big gains made by Reform UK in the local elections.

25The threshold for Skilled Worker Visas is expected to be increased to graduate level, tightened from the current A-level measure - while the list of exceptions to the rules for temporary shortage visas in some industries will be narrowed.

26Home Secretary Yvette Cooper revealed on Sunday that Labour will change the rules to ensure care workers will no longer be recruited from overseas.

27Instead, firms will be required to hire British nationals or extend visas of overseas workers already in the country.

28Cooper told BBC One's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg it is "time to end that care worker recruitment from abroad".

29These two changes will cut up to 50,000 lower-skilled and care workers coming to the UK over the next year, Cooper said.

30The Liberal Democrats said the immigration system was in "tatters" and trust had been "shattered".

31"Labour must now focus on fixing our broken immigration system and the Liberal Democrats look forward to scrutinising the government's plans to ensure a system that works for our economy and our country," home affairs spokeswoman Lisa Smart said.

32The Conservative Party said that - while it agrees with the plan to end care worker recruitment from abroad - it would force a vote on a "binding migration cap".

33"But Starmer and Labour will vote it down," Chris Philp predicted.

34He called Labour's plans "too little" and argued that if the government had stuck with Tory changes, net migration would have dropped "by about 400,000".

35Reform UK's deputy leader Richard Tice said that his party's strong performance in the local elections in England was due to public anger about both legal and illegal migration.

36Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to keep up with the inner workings of Westminster and beyond.

from BBC