UK

The government has unveiled a slate of new requirements and restrictions around migration to the UK, from a higher level of English language proficiency to eliminating the careworker visa pathway entirely. “If you want to live in the UK, you should speak English. That’s common sense,” said Sir Keir Starmer on X (formerly Twitter).The changes could make British citizenship among the hardest to achieve in the anglophone world, with a decade-long wait to apply.“Extending the standard route to settlement to 10 years risks making it harder for people to contribute and settle into their communities,” said Marley Morris, associate director at the Institute for Public Policy Research.Here, The Independent looks at how some of Labour’s new rules compare to immigration systems in the US, Australia and New Zealand. Migration still at high levelsThe most recent figure for net migration to the UK stands at 728,000 people in the year to June 2024. Some 1.2 million people entered the country during that period, while 479,000 left the UK. “A one-nation experiment in open borders conducted on a country that voted for control. Well, no more,” Sir Keir said on Monday. “The experiment is over. We will deliver what you have asked for – time and again – and we will take back control of our borders.”The figure was down overall by 20 per cent from the previous year, when net migration hit a record-high level of 906,000 in the year to June 2023.Net migration to the UK remains far above its pre-Brexit level, when it stood at around 200,000 to 250,000. New migration figures are set to be released next week, revealing the first full migration numbers since Sir Keir’s Labour government came to power. The figures, showing net migration up to December last year, will provide an insight into the effectiveness of the government’s immigration strategy so far. Decade-long barrier to citizenshipThe new route to settlement, which doubles the time a person is required to have lived in the UK from five years to 10, will mean British citizenship is among the hardest to acquire in the world. This decade-long requirement is over twice as high as in comparable countries, and is perhaps the most significant change made in this white paper.Mr Morris added: “Visa holders will spend lengthy periods on an insecure status, increasing their risk of poverty and losing status altogether. This could inhibit integration while doing little to bring down numbers.”Even in the United States, which is considered to have one of the toughest immigration systems, migrants only have to have lived in the country for five years on a visa before they can begin to apply for citizenship. The same requirement exists in New Zealand, and it’s even lower – four years – in Australia.“The UK will become a relative outlier on the global stage, where 10 years to gain settlement is rare,” explained Jonathan Beech, managing partner at immigration law specialists Migrate UK.“[This brings into question] how attractive the UK will be to those with the skills and expertise the UK requires to be an economic powerhouse.” Language requirementsThe government has placed a new emphasis on English language requirements for incoming migrants. Skilled workers and those looking to settle in the UK will see the language requirement rise from B1 to B2 in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, along with other changes.This is a higher stage of the “independent user” level of proficiency in English. However, the UK is not necessarily unusual in imposing this requirement. For skilled workers and students, New Zealand requires a minimum 6.5 score on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), which is equivalent to the upper end of a B2 score in the European framework. The new B2 language requirement is broadly equivalent to a 5.5 – 6.5 score on the IELTS scale used by other countries More

Sir Keir Starmer has warned that the UK risks becoming “an island of strangers” as he laid out some of the toughest rules in recent history to crack down on immigration.Sir Keir also said that the number of people entering the country is causing “incalculable damage” – remarks that have provoked a furious backlash, with his own MPs joining trade unions and charities in comparing the language with that of the far right and Enoch Powell.In a dramatic early morning press conference on Monday aimed at seizing the political agenda, Sir Keir insisted his new immigration plans were being unveiled “because they are the right thing to do”.Among the measures announced were a ban on the recruitment of care workers from overseas, increased English language requirements for immigrants and the tightening of access to skilled worker visas. But while Sir Keir denied his government’s white paper was a “reaction to a political party” following the success of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK at the local elections, critics condemned his attempts to “pander” to Mr Farage.Starmer unveils his white paper on immigration in Downing Street on Monday More

Getting accurate information online is “under greater threat than ever before” and government, regulators and social media firms need to do more in response, fact-checking charity Full Fact has said.In its annual report, the charity accused the US government of making the term misinformation “politically charged” by suggesting fact-checking was restricting debate and free speech.The organisation also criticised Meta’s decision to end its use of third-party fact-checkers in the US, with founder Mark Zuckerberg claiming fact-checkers were “politically biased” and impeding free speech – a decision seen by many as an attempt to earn favour with Donald Trump’s White House.Full Fact said it was concerned by large online platforms “walking away” from measures to make online spaces safer, and called on the UK Government and online safety regulator Ofcom to “do more to hold these companies to account, by law if necessary”.In its report, the organisation urged the Government to “resist pressure” from the Trump administration around free speech and misinformation policy, adding that should strengthen the Online Safety Act to better counter misleading content and improve media literacy for platforms to help them spot it.“Full Fact’s 2025 report is being published at a moment of crisis for anyone who cares about verifiable facts — a time of global upheaval, as the second Trump administration rewrites the rules of American engagement and western political norms,” the report said.“Fact checking organisations around the world — which seek to amplify accurate information amidst a deluge of false, misleading or artificially generated junk — are under pressure as never before. Many may not survive.”It added that is was a time to “stand up for our values” and that, although it was an impartial charity, it would “not be impartial about the proposition that facts matter”, and that the ability to “identify, verify, and think critically about information is essential to any meaningful public debate in the UK”.The charity said: “Yet today, the United States is charting a different course.“Earlier this year, vice president JD Vance came to Europe to talk about the enemy within. He described misinformation as an ugly Soviet era word, and suggested anyone using it wanted to tell others what to think.“As we set out at the time, we strongly disagree. Fact checking doesn’t restrict debate; it strengthens it by grounding it in truth.“It’s not censorship. It’s more speech, not less—and by that standard, the vice president should approve.”Full Fact also compared the need to increase focus on combating misinformation to the recent debate around UK defence spending and the need to increase it.“But defence is not just about bullets and tanks; it’s also about bots and troll farms,” the charity said.“We are in a hybrid war, with attacks coming from some hitherto unexpected places, and if we want to protect what we value in our society we need to fight on all fronts.“Access to accurate information forms the basis of the robust political debates we need to have. It is not a luxury, it is the foundation of our democracy.”Chris Morris, the charity’s chief executive, said: “We cannot let large online platforms which wield so much influence over our daily lives walk away from commitments to make our online world a safer place.“Government and regulators must hold them to account, to the full extent of the law. This is no time for half measures.“In a critical year with the AI revolution gathering pace, the expertise of professional and impartial fact checking organisations is not part of the problem. It is part of the solution.” More

‘Migration will fall, that’s a promise’ Keir Starmer announces stricter immigration rulesA Labour MP has warned Sir Keir Starmer is “laying the groundwork for Nigel Farage” with his language on migration on Monday.Speaking to The Independent, Clive Lewis said the prime minister’s comments about an “island of strangers” risked “legitimising Reform’s worldview and giving it a home in the political mainstream”.He said: “Once legitimised, he – and those like him – will feel emboldened to go even further.”The prime minister gave a speech in Downing Street on Monday morning to announce that every area of the UK’s “broken” immigration system will be tightened.Refugee charity Care4Calais accused Starmer of fanning the fire of the far-right by using language like “an island of strangers” to discuss immigration.“This is dangerous language for any Prime Minister to use,” Care4Calais CEO, Steve Smith, said, adding that he should apologise.Under the new white paper proposals, migrants will be told they must learn English and “earn the privilege” to live in the UK.Migrants will also be told they need to spend a decade in the UK before they can apply for citizenship and English language requirements will be increasedStarmer ‘laying the groundwork for Farage’, Labour MP warnsA Labour MP has warned Sir Keir Starmer is “laying the groundwork for Nigel Farage” with his language on migration on Monday.Speaking to The Independent, Clive Lewis said the prime minister’s comments about a “land of strangers” risked “legitimising Reform’s worldview and giving it a home in the political mainstream”.He said: “Once legitimised, he – and those like him – will feel emboldened to go even further.“At its heart, this is about pride, hubris, and a refusal by those in charge to admit that their strategy has backfired. We are now in crisis mode.“Nobody on the progressive left is against a serious, balanced approach to immigration – one that meets our economic needs, fills gaps in care, supports universities, and treats people with dignity. But that has to be paired with real action to make this country better – for everyone.”( More

Sir Keir Starmer unveiled drastic plans to slash migration on Monday, echoing the slogan used by Brexit campaigners during the 2016 EU referendum – vowing to “take back control of our borders.” He promised to make sure that settlement in Britain is “privilege that must be earned, not a right”. Whether he likes it or not, the PM’s time in office will now be judged against how successfully he brings down migration. Here, The Independent takes a look at exactly how Sir Keir plans to achieve that goal. Sir Keir Starmer unveiled plans to cut migration More

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.Starmer, whose center-left Labour Party won a landslide victory last July, is facing pressure from voters who are increasingly frustrated by high levels of immigration that many believe have strained public services and inflamed ethnic tensions in some parts of the country.Starmer is pledging to end what his office described as “Britain’s failed experiment in open borders,’’ less than two weeks after Reform UK rode the immigration issue to victories in local elections. Labour and the center-right Conservatives, long the dominant parties in British politics, both saw their support crater in the contests for local government councils and mayors.“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,’’ Starmer said in excerpts of a speech to be delivered on Monday. “We will create a system that is controlled, selective and fair.’’Immigration has been a potent issue in Britain since 2004, when the European Union expanded to Eastern Europe. While most EU countries restricted immigration from the new member states for a period of years, the U.K. immediately opened its labor market, attracting a flood of new arrivals.By 2010, then-Prime Minister David Cameron pledged to cut annual net immigration to less than 100,000, a target four Conservative governments failed to meet. In 2016, anger over the government’s inability to control immigration from the EU triggered a referendum in which Britain voted to leave the bloc.But Brexit did nothing to reduce the number of people entering the country on visas for work, education and family reunification.In recent years, concerns that the government has lost control of Britain’s borders have been fueled by the sight of thousands of migrants entering the U.K. illegally on leaky, inflatable boats operated by people smugglers. Some 37,000 people crossed the English Channel on small boats last year, down from 45,755 in 2022, government statistics show.Reform’s performance in the local elections was “because people are raging, furious, about the levels of both legal and illegal immigration,” Deputy Party Leader Richard Tice told Sky News.Annual net migration — the number of people entering the U.K. minus those who left — stood at 728,000 in the year to June 2024. While that figure was down 20% from the year to June 2023, according to the Office for National Statistics, it was still more than seven times the target set by the Conservatives in 2010.Starmer’s government doesn’t plan to set a new target, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, who is in charge of immigration, said on Sunday.“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,” she said in an interview with Sky News.Instead, she said, the government will focus on policies such as restricting visas for lower-skilled workers. The new rules will mean 50,000 fewer visas for these workers next year, Cooper said.Chris Philp, Cooper’s Conservative counterpart, said his party will support such proposals but they don’t go far enough.“Tomorrow we intend to push to a vote in Parliament a measure that would have an annual cap on migration voted for and set by Parliament to restore proper democratic accountability, because those numbers were far, far too high,” he said. More

Sir Keir Starmer has said those coming to the UK will have to “earn the right” to stay as Labour unveils sweeping reforms designed to slash net migration and tackle the threat posed by Nigel Farage and Reform.The prime minister said migrants must commit to integration and learning English, as part of a crackdown ministers say will boost economic growth. In what the Labour leader claimed would be a “clean break” from the past, the changes include a wait of 10 years, not five, to apply for permanent residency – unless they can prove a significant contribution – a ban on recruiting care workers from overseas and, for the first time, adult dependents will have to prove they understand basic English. No 10 said that as the number of migrants swelled to more than 900,000 a year in 2023 “public services were stretched, housing costs soared and employers swapped skills investment for cheap overseas labour”. Keir Starmer said the changes would represent ‘a clean break from the past’ More

The Foreign Secretary will host ministers for critical talks on how to deal with the “existential” threat Russia poses to security in Europe.David Lammy is expected to announce further sanctions targeting those supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine amid demands for Vladimir Putin to accept a 30-day ceasefire deal on Monday.He will meet with Foreign Ministers of the Weimar+ group including representatives from France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Poland and the EU at Lancaster House in a show of “unwavering support for Ukraine’s right to peace and freedom”. Mr Lammy said: “We are facing a once-in-a-generation moment for the collective security of our continent. The challenge we face today is not only about the future of Ukraine – it is existential for Europe as a whole. “I have brought our friends and partners to London to make clear that we must stand together, allied in our protection of sovereignty, of peace and of Ukraine. “A strong and secure Britain is a foundation of our Plan for Change. This cannot be achieved without standing up to Putin and strengthening our shared European security.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer tour the streets of Kyiv, Ukraine, after they attended a meeting of the so-called ‘coalition of the willing’ at the Presidential Palace (Stefan Rousseau/PA) More