Politics latest: Starmer makes migration vow as he unveils crackdown

PM pledges net migration will fall by the end of this parliament

Sir Keir Starmer is asked if he has "shot himself in the foot" by insisting those who want to be British citizens now have to live here twice as long - when his number one priority is growth.

"The theory that higher migration numbers leads to growth has been tested in the last four years," the PM replies.

"That link doesn't hold on that evidence.

"This white paper is not just a white paper on immigration, it's also a white paper that leads to skills and training."

He says the UK has "underinvested in skills and growth".

The PM does not answer a question on whether net migration would fall every year between now and the next election but says he wants to "get it down by the end of this Parliament".

Migrants brought ashore after crossing Channel

From Downing Street to Dover, as pictures reach us of more migrants arriving after crossing the Channel this morning.

It comes as the government outlines its proposals to crack down on legal immigration - its critics will argue nothing announced today will stop small boat crossings.

PM must apologise for 'island of strangers' comment, refugee charity says

Refugee charity Care4Calais has accused the prime minister of "fanning the fire of the far-right" by using language like "an island of strangers" to discuss immigration.

Care4Calais CEO, Steve Smith, said in a statement: "This is dangerous language for any prime minister to use. Has Starmer forgotten last year's far-right riots?

"Shameful language like this will only inflame the fire of the far-right and risks further race riots that endanger survivors of horrors such as war, torture and modern slavery. Starmer must apologise."

In case you missed the PM's news conference, he said he  "celebrate[s]" Britain's diversity, but without rules, "we risk becoming an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together". 

Badenoch: Labour doesn't believe in secure borders

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has just given her first response to Sir Keir Starmer's news conference this morning setting out his plans to cut legal migration to the UK.

She wrote on X: "Keir Starmer once called all immigration laws racist. So why would anyone believe he actually wants to bring immigration down?

"When I proposed ending the automatic route to British citizenship and introducing a legally binding cap, the government laughed it off.

"Now - nine months into office and after voting against every serious attempt we’ve put forward to cut numbers - Starmer suddenly wants you to think he cares.

"Labour doesn't believe in secure borders. You can't trust them to protect ours."

We expect to hear more from Badenoch later today, and we'll bring you her comments as soon as we have them.

Starmer is 'completely changing his tune' on immigration, says senior Tory

We've just had some reaction to the PM's speech from the Tory shadow crime minister, Matt Vickers, and he accuses Sir Keir Starmer of saying one thing before he was elected, and another now.

"This is a guy who is also saying one thing and doing another," Vickers argued.

He said Starmer is "talking all tough to the world's press" - but is putting forward legislation to allow people who arrive illegally in Britain to become citizens.

But Sky's Wilfred Frost points out that the PM was talking about legal migration, and asks the shadow minister if he supports what was said.

He replies: "Well, do you know what? He's not saying very much, actually, because a lot of the things that have happened on legal migration, so numbers are already down as a result of action the last government took."

Vickers admitted that "previous governments have failed" to reduce legal migration, - but also insisted the Tory part believes there should be controls on immigration.

"The reality is that Keir Starmer is a man who opposed every single measure brought forward to the immigration system. This is a man who campaigned against the deportation of foreign criminals. He's completely changing his tune."

PM needs to be careful about how he attacks his predecessors

Sir Keir Starmer will need to be careful about how he attacks his predecessors on immigration, Sky's political correspondent Mhari Auroa has said.

"As part of the speech Starmer just gave, he blamed the Tories on their record in government when it comes to increasing immigration when they promised the opposite," she said.

"He said you can't do something like that by accident - it was a choice.

"Now, he may regret saying that because you could potentially use that against Keir Starmer and say small boat crossings have gone up under your watch, so is that therefore a choice as well?

"So you can suddenly weaponise his words against him. 

"He needs to be very careful about how he attacks his predecessors, considering he is surely proving it's harder than it looks to reduce those numbers."

Mhari also noted people will be sceptical when they see Starmer's "shift in rhetoric" when it comes to immigration.

PM gave a 'pretty aggressive' news conference - but unclear if policy matches rhetoric

Our deputy political editor Sam Coates was in Downing Street listening to the PM speak live, and he described Sir Keir Starmer's statement that migration is not automatically linked to economic growth as "a pretty landmark moment".

He said the PM promised to "bring down migration substantially" by the end of this parliament - not necessarily this year or next.

"The question that I was asking essentially is whether or not we can believe him, and whether or not policy will really reduce migration, because for years there's effectively been a lobbyist for higher migration round the cabinet table.

"That person has been the chancellor," he said, explaining that more people means a higher growth forecast.

But Starmer "sidestepped" the question about if he has done anything to change that incentive for the chancellor.

Overall, Sam described the tone of the news conference as "pretty aggressive", saying Labour has "been on a journey over the last few years when it comes to migration, not least because of the political threat that it poses".

"But the question is - does the rhetoric match up to the policy proposals that we are getting today?"

That remains to be seen, Sam says.

PM refuses to impose migration cap as previous ones 'failed'

Next to question the PM is Chris Hope from GB News, and he says there have been three immigration acts since 2014 which aimed to reduce migration, but "they both failed", and so asks why the public should believe his measures will work.

Sir Keir Starmer replies: "The difference here - this is the most comprehensive plan that has been put forward."

He says it looks all the visa routes, while also doing "the hard yards of linking skills and business to what we need to do with the economy".

The PM is "absolutely clear" that his plan will "significantly reduce" net migration, and he pledges to "go further" if needed.

But he adds: "I don't think it's sensible to put a hard-edged cap on it - that has been done in one form or another for the best part of 10 years by different prime ministers."

He says "every single one" of the caps that have previously been imposed "failed", and he will not repeat that.

That concludes the PM's news conference - stay tuned for analysis from our experts.

Labour 'making the link' between skills and growth

The PM is now asked by Sky's deputy political editor Sam Coates about his message to the terasury and OBR and if he is doing anything to actually change the way that they work and calculate the cost-benefit analysis of growth in migration.

Starmer says: "I think whatever political persuasion you are, it is quite extraordinary that net migration quadrupled in four years. We've never seen that before in this country.

"But growth didn't shift. It stayed stagnant."

He also says Labour is "making that link" when it comes to skills and growth.

"The other thing that the paper is doing is readjusting the model because it's got to a place now where we have more low skilled jobs rather than high skilled jobs," he adds.

"So by adjusting the threshold for skills, this allows, migration to be in the areas of high skills, and people are more likely to make a significant contribution to our economy."

PM pledges net migration will fall by the end of this parliament

Sir Keir Starmer is asked if he has "shot himself in the foot" by insisting those who want to be British citizens now have to live here twice as long - when his number one priority is growth.

"The theory that higher migration numbers leads to growth has been tested in the last four years," the PM replies.

"That link doesn't hold on that evidence.

"This white paper is not just a white paper on immigration, it's also a white paper that leads to skills and training."

He says the UK has "underinvested in skills and growth".

The PM does not answer a question on whether net migration would fall every year between now and the next election but says he wants to "get it down by the end of this Parliament".

Starmer: We will choose who comes to the UK in our national interest

Sir Keir Starmer goes on to say that his changes are not just about the numbers, saying: "The chaos of the previous government also changed the nature of immigration in this country.

"Fewer people who make a strong economic contribution, more who work in parts of our economy that put downward pressure on wages.

"So perhaps the biggest change in this White Paper is that we will finally honour what 'take back control meant' and begin to choose who comes here so that migration works for our national interest."

The PM hits out seemingly at people on the left and in his own party who think "controlling immigration is reining in a sort of natural freedom rather than a basic and reasonable responsibility of government".

This, he says, "muddled our thinking", but declares: "It ends now. We will create a migration system that is controlled, selective, and fair."

Settling in the UK will become "a privilege that is earned, not a right".

Concluding, the PM says his White Paper will deliver "lower net migration, higher skills, backing British workers - the start of repairing our social contract which the chaos and cynicism of the last government did so much to undermine".

-SKY NEWS