Prime Minister Keir Starmer asserts the British government will regain control of its borders.
With public opinion shifting against the influx of foreigners, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced plans aimed at reducing immigration.
The new measures, outlined in a government white paper released on Monday, propose increasing the residency requirement for citizenship from five to ten years, strengthening English language requirements, raising the skilled worker threshold, and ceasing overseas recruitment for social care positions.
“My government will take back control of our borders,” Starmer stated on X.
According to an Ipsos poll conducted earlier this year, immigration is a major concern for the British public, alongside the condition of the National Health Service (NHS).
Immigration has significantly increased since 2004, when the UK, then a member of the EU, opened its labor market to workers from Eastern European countries like Poland.
In 2016, widespread dissatisfaction with the government’s inability to manage the flow of migrants from the EU was a significant factor in Britain’s decision to leave the bloc.
However, Brexit has not resolved the issue, as net migration nearly quadrupled between 2019 and 2023.
Critics have observed that Starmer, who previously strongly opposed Brexit, is now using language similar to that of the pro-Brexit campaign.
They contend that Labour’s newly implemented stringent immigration policies are an attempt to overtake the Reform UK party. Green Party co-chair Carla Denyer has accused Starmer of imitating Reform leader Nigel Farage, adding that this “won’t save him from wipeout at the hands” of the right-wing party.
Reform’s influence has grown considerably in recent years, capitalizing on anti-immigration sentiments and dissatisfaction with economic stagnation. It has also presented itself as an alternative to the traditional two-party system.
In the 2024 general election, Reform won five parliamentary seats and 14.3% of the national vote. In local elections held earlier this month, it secured 677 council seats out of 1,641, gained control of ten councils, and won two mayoralties.
Reform’s rise coincides with a broader increase in anti-immigration and Euro-skeptic views in Europe. Right-wing parties are now part of governing coalitions in several EU countries, including Italy, Finland, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, and the Czech Republic.