8 d. ago Senior faith leaders urge Starmer to tone down migration rhetoric

Exclusive: Christian, Muslim and Jewish representatives write to prime minister after ‘island of strangers’ speechUK politics live – latest updatesMore than a dozen bishops and other senior Christian, Muslim and Jewish faith leaders have written to the prime minister after his “island of strangers” speech, urging him to use a more “compassionate narrative” about migrants.The letter was sent to Keir Starmer after his speech on Monday, which preceded the publication of the government’s immigration white paper that has been widely criticised by migrant rights organisations and civil society groups. Continue reading...

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1 week ago Motherwell and Wishaw MSP hits out at UK Government's immigration proposals

The SNP’s Clare Adamson joined calls from the care sector and other industries for Sir Keir Starmer to urgently abandon his proposed restrictions on international recruitment

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1 week ago PMQs LIVE: Keir Starmer faces MPs after man arrested over fire at his London home

Prime Minister Keir Starmer will field questions from Kemi Badenoch, who has been on the attack over the Government's immigration plans and its trade deals with the US and India

Events

1 week ago There’s only one problem with Labour’s immigration plans: they’re completely untethered from reality | Jonathan Portes

The government’s new policy will take us back to an uglier, more dangerous place – and it’s not even supported by the dataHow do you reduce immigration while at the same time boosting growth? Labour’s recent immigration white paper sets out a supposedly clear answer. Since the recent “surge” in immigration was driven by the system shifting away from “higher-skilled migration”, it has “distorted the labour market” and undermined the UK’s productivity and GDP.This argument, which has been made in increasingly shrill tones by the rightwing press and thinktanks over the past two years, was echoed by the prime minister, Keir Starmer, who tweeted that “the Tories ran an immigration system that relied on cheap foreign labour”. It sounds plausible. There’s just one problem. It doesn’t fit the facts, and the government knows it.Jonathan Portes is professor of economics and public policy at King’s College London and a former senior civil servant Continue reading...

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1 week ago Tell us how you might be affected by Labour’s plans to reduce migration to the UK

We’d like to hear from workers and business owners on the effect the government’s immigration white paper might have on themThe government published its immigration white paper on Monday which aims to reduce the number of people arriving in the UK “significantly” by introducing restriction across all forms of visas.Changes include skilled work visa applicants requiring degree-level qualifications rather than those that are roughly equivalent to A-levels. Social care visas specifically will be affected as the government promises to end all overseas recruitment for social care work – though there will be a “transition period” until 2028. Continue reading...

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1 week ago How Keir Starmer’s new immigration plans won’t beat the far right

Sir Keir Starmer’s announcement comes as the government seeks to curb the rise of Reform UK

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1 week ago CHRISTINA MCANEA: 'Care sector would have collapsed years ago without overseas workers'

UNISON General Secretary Christina McAnea writes for The Mirror as Keir Starmer's government announces major changes to immigration rules for care workers

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1 week ago RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: As I watched Keir Starmer shed every principle he once had for his latest migration 'crackdown', I didn't know whether to laugh or vomit

All you need to know about the latest 'crackdown' on immigration is that had it been proposed by a Conservative government, Surkeir Starmer would have voted against it.

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1 week ago Nurses, universities and some Labour MPs criticise Government's new immigration rules

The GMB union said plans to scrap care visas could be ‘catastrophic’ for the sector

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1 week ago ‘Cheap foreign labour’ – this is how Keir Starmer denigrates the migrant carers looking after your loved ones

The government’s claims about immigration driving down wages are so demonstrably untrue, it’s hard to feel the appropriate level of outrage I would love to know what exactly happens, in the top-level meetings where the prime minister decides to be even tougher on immigration. Is there anyone in there saying: “This will not halt Reform. This will not make Reform less obnoxious. This will not make them more moderate, and it will not stop people voting for them. All it will do is make your own supporters despair.” If there is, are they screaming it, or whispering it, with a thousand-yard stare?It’s bad enough that the government has swallowed this anti-immigrant rhetoric wholesale; that it’s decided to land its misdirected toughness on the care workers is dumb on so many levels. First, Starmer’s claim that that migrant care workers are “cheap foreign labour”. Pause to note how extraordinary it is, to hear this kind of denigratory language coming from a human-rights lawyer. It is also u...

Events

1 week ago Labour MP says Starmer’s ‘island of strangers’ warning over immigration mimics scaremongering of far right – UK politics live

PM unveils new policies meant to drive down net migration by end of this parliamentQ: If you want to grow the economy, won’t these plans make it harder because it will be more difficult for people to get UK citizenship?Starmer says he does not accept the argument that high immigration is always good for growth. The last government had high immigration but stagnant growth.I promise that [net migration] will fall significantly, and I do want to get it down by the end of this parliament, significantly. Continue reading...

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1 week ago Care homes will close thanks to Starmer’s immigration crackdown, providers warn

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has announced the closure of the care worker visa for overseas recruitment as part of the government's immigration reforms

Events

1 week ago Keir Starmer claims soaring immigration has done ‘incalculable’ damage to UK, economically and politically – UK politics live

PM unveils new policies meant to drive down net migration by end of this parliamentQ: If you want to grow the economy, won’t these plans make it harder because it will be more difficult for people to get UK citizenship?Starmer says he does not accept the argument that high immigration is always good for growth. The last government had high immigration but stagnant growth.I promise that [net migration] will fall significantly, and I do want to get it down by the end of this parliament, significantly. Continue reading...

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1 week ago Keir Starmer promises net migration will fall ‘significantly’ by end of this parliament – UK politics live

PM says policies will ‘take back control’ of migration as promised, but not delivered, by Tory BrexitersWhat change in rules means for migrants and employersQ: If you want to grow the economy, won’t these plans make it harder because it will be more difficult for people to get UK citizenship?Starmer says he does not accept the argument that high immigration is always good for growth. The last government had high immigration but stagnant growth.I promise that [net migration] will fall significantly, and I do want to get it down by the end of this parliament, significantly. Continue reading...

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1 week ago Keir Starmer to make major immigration update in Downing Street press conference

Keir Starmer will address the nation at around 8.30am ahead of the Government's long-awaited immigration white paper, which will be published on Monday.

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1 week ago Keir Starmer to give Downing Street press conference on major immigration update

Keir Starmer will address the nation at around 8.30am ahead of the Government's long-awaited immigration white paper, which will be published on Monday

Politics

1 week ago Starmer to tighten immigration rules as anger over 'failed open borders experiment' grows

Prime Minister Keir Starmer will unveil plans to tighten immigration rules, confronting an issue that has bedeviled successive governments and fueled the rise of a new anti-immigrant party

Events

1 week ago Keir Starmer to give urgent immigration press conference over 'failed open borders'

Prime Minister Keir Starmer will unveil plans to tighten immigration rules, confronting an issue that has bedeviled successive governments and fueled the rise of a new anti-immigrant party

Events

1 week ago UK government to tighten immigration rules amid voter anger over ‘failed experiment in open borders’

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will on Monday unveil plans to tighten immigration rules, confronting an issue that has bedeviled successive governments and fueled the rise of a new anti-immigrant party that could threaten the country’s political establishment

Politics

1 week ago Why the PM is right to be tough on immigration but also compassionate

Editorial: The government has a tricky balancing act when it comes to immigration. It has to serve the economy, address public disquiet and also maintain an asylum system, but Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper seem to have the right approach

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