Priority said that policy “regains control of our borders and closes the book with eerie chapters for politics, the economy and our nation.”
British Prime Minister Kiel Starmer announced a massive amount of stricter immigration policies on Monday, pledging to reduce the total number of people migrating to the UK.
In Monday’s speech, priorities acknowledged voters’ views on immigration and used slogans created by campaigners who wanted the UK to leave the European Union in 2016.
He said the policies he announced would “finally regain control of our borders and close the book with a creepy chapter for our politics, our economy and our country.”
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“Everyone knows the slogan “regain control” and everyone knows what it means with immigration.
In 2010, conservative Prime Minister David Cameron promised to reduce net immigration annually to less than 100,000, but despite the 2016 Brexit referendum, consecutive Tory governments were unable to meet its target.
The priority states: “Even between 2019 and 2023, when they were traveling around our country, I told people with a straight face that net immigration had quadrupled to 2023 until it reached nearly a million.
“It’s about the population of Birmingham, our second largest city. It’s not control. It’s confusion.”
The priorities acknowledge that immigration is “part of the British national story,” and stated that immigration from the Caribbean and South Asia made a major contribution to Britain’s progress after World War II.
“But when people come to our country, they should also be committed to integration, learning our language, and our system needs to actively distinguish between those who are not,” he added.
The priority said that Britain would need “fair rules” that guide the country’s values and citizens’ responsibilities and duties to each other.
“The Island of Strangers”
“Now, in a diverse country like us, we celebrate these rules becoming even more important. Without them, we risk becoming an island for strangers.
Among the specific measures announced by the UK, it was announced on Sunday that Home Secretary Yvette Cooper would change the work visa rules.
“The visa threshold will be returned to degree levels: increasing productivity, strengthening the UK economy and supporting growth.”
In his speech on Monday, priorities targeted the Conservatives in particular, saying the Tories:
Immigration: The experiment is over
“One country experiment in open borders in the countries that voted for control. Well, no more. Today, this labor government is closing its lab. The experiment is over.”
In a session of questions and answers after the speech, he was asked if he could promise that the net transition would drop every year from now on, and replied, “I promise it will drop significantly and hope to defeat it by the end of this Congress (2029).”
The priority was asked if the UK believes it needs to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to push for change in immigration.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenok answered a speech in order of priority by posting to X.
“The government laughed at it when it proposed to end the automatic route to British citizenship and introduce legally binding caps.
“Now, nine months after taking office, after voting for all the serious attempts he proposed to cut numbers, I hope all of a sudden I think he cares.”
Reform UK assistant leader Richard Tice told BBC Radio 4’s “Today” program on Monday that priorities are “hearing and learning from reform.”
Tice said the priority speech was merely “warm words” and “the real question is: will he actually tell?”
He said, “There are no targets, no number to measure, but zero immigrants have a clear target.”
The Associated Press and PA Media contributed to this report.
