Starmer has admitted UK immigration policy has been a colossal failure – his new measures don’t go far enough
SIR Keir Starmer insisted yesterday Britain could become an “island of strangers” without tougher immigration policies.
Well, the raft of ideas he announced yesterday don’t go anywhere near far enough to address those concerns.
Yesterday’s White Paper was a dispiriting admission that Britain’s immigration policy has been a colossal failure
Last year a staggering 728,000 more people arrived in Britain than left.
The year before the figure was 906,000.
Remember, the British people didn’t vote for this — quite the opposite, in fact.
The Prime Minister was right about something yesterday — these figures are simply unsustainable.
Both he and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper both acknowledged that this had placed an intolerable strain on public services without aiding economic growth.
It’s something many of us have been bleating on about for years.
The success of Reform UK in winning the Runcorn and Helsby by-election, the Greater Lincolnshire mayoralty and a slew of red wall council seats has undoubtedly sharpened Labour’s appetite to tackle migration.
And there were some decent policy points in this White Paper, which is a blueprint for future laws.
Tightening skilled visa rules so that those applying now need a degree rather than A-levels was a no-brainer.
We should be recruiting the brightest and the best when we issue visas.
This reverses a change brought in by Boris Johnson’s Conservative administration. It was a daft idea and Migration Watch said so at the time.
Again, the White Paper is right that too many students are coming to the UK to study at lower-ranked institutions.
Then they often stay in the UK beyond their course with some even then claiming asylum. This obviously needs tightening up.
Then there will be more rigour placed on making sure migrants are proficient in English.
All adult dependants who come with arriving workers or students will need to show at least basic English skills.
Shockingly, 44 PER CENT of dependants are not gainfully employed.
It means we’re importing huge numbers of low-skilled people, who often become reliant on the state.
Then there’s the proposed rule change that migrants will need to have been in the UK for at least a decade — rather than the current five years — before they can seek indefinite leave to remain.
The last thing any migrant, be they coming in legally or illegally, is concerned about is whether it is going to take ten years to be granted leave to remain indefinitely.
They know that if they decide to stay, there’s very little likelihood of them being removed.
All the White Paper ideas are just tinkering around the edges when the British people need and want a major overhaul.
The Home Office reckons the policies might lead to 100,000 drop in immigration per year. That’s nowhere near enough even if the plans come to fruition.
Remember, this White Paper will need to be analysed and debated.
It will then need to be in the King’s Speech and will take months to go through Parliament.
I reckon that it will be early 2027 before any ensuing legislation comes into force and then another year or 18 months after that before we have the evidence to show that it was all a gigantic waste of time.
And that really suggests to me that what Starmer is doing at the moment is reacting to recent political developments and the surge of Nigel Farage’s Reform.
Unsustainable figure
We found out yesterday that Sir Keir has no intention of quitting the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
While we remain a party to it, clever lawyers will find any number of ways of making sure those that should be deported remain here.
The Office for National Statistics projected that net annual migration to the UK will dip to the 340,000 level after 2028.
However, recent reports suggest Home Office officials now believe the figure will be closer to 525,000. That’s a huge number and, I believe, an unsustainable one.
If we’re going to receive that many migrants for the foreseeable future, it means an increase in our population of 20million within 25 years.
That’s a massive increase for our small island.
This White Paper has proposed policies that will prevent what is currently out-of-control immigration.
If Starmer is really worried about Britain becoming an island of strangers he needs to move harder and faster to bring numbers down now.