Keir Starmer unveils plans to change UK immigration system after record arrivals

euronews (in English)

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Thursday put net migration at more than 900,000 in the year to June 2023, numbers Starmer blamed on the previous Conservative government.

Transcript

00:00British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said the government will overhaul the immigration

00:06system after new data showed arrivals to the country had hit a record high. Figures released

00:11by the Office for National Statistics put net migration at more than 900,000 in the

00:17year to June 2023. Starmer blamed those numbers on the previous Conservative government.

00:24Because a failure on this scale isn't just bad luck. It isn't a global trend or taking

00:32your eye off the ball. No, this is a different order of failure. This happened by design,

00:40not accident. Policies were reformed deliberately to liberalise immigration. Brexit was used

00:49for that purpose, to turn Britain into a one-nation experiment in open borders. Starmer said his

00:57government plans to overhaul the points-based immigration system brought in by the Conservatives

01:03in 2021 after Brexit. That system gives applicants points for specific skills and qualifications

01:10and those who don't meet the threshold aren't granted a visa. Immigration is a divisive

01:15topic in the UK, with many voters concerned about the strain on public services caused

01:20by a large influx of people. But some sectors, including healthcare, argue they'd be unable

01:26to function without staff brought in from abroad.

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