UK PM Starmer unveils immigration crackdown citing 'island of strangers' risk

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has unveiled a comprehensive immigration crackdown aimed at reducing net migration, tightening English language requirements, and closing loopholes that allow foreign offenders to avoid deportation. The Labour Government plans to restrict legal migration, including ending the care worker visa for new overseas recruits and requiring migrants to spend up to ten years in the UK before applying for citizenship. Starmer criticized the previous Conservative government's immigration record, calling it an "experiment" that led to a quadrupling of net migration and describing the existing system as one "almost designed to permit abuse." Home Secretary Yvette Cooper supports reform efforts, challenging the long-held belief that higher migration fuels economic growth, pointing instead to a flatlined economy and low domestic workforce participation. Both leaders emphasize the goal of restoring control over borders to prevent Britain from becoming an "island of strangers" and to promote integration through language and civic commitments. The new policies prioritize high-skilled migrants and aim to invest more in UK workers, while also addressing political and economic divisions linked to current immigration levels.