Keir Starmer immigration speech: Read full transcript as Prime Minister slams Tories’ ‘open borders experiment’

When we came into office – we immediately conducted an audit of public finances and we found a £22 billion black hole.

Now – the independent Office of National Statistics has conducted vital work on the state of immigration and found the previous Government were running an open borders experiment.

As the ONS sets out, nearly one million people came to Britain in the year ending June 2023. That is four times the migration levels compared with 2019.

Time and again – the Conservative Party promised they would get those numbers down. Time and again – they failed.

And now the chorus of excuses has begun. We heard that from the Leader of the Opposition, yesterday.

But what we didn’t hear what the British people are owed is an explanation.

Because a failure on this scale isn’t just bad luck it isn’t a global trend or taking your eye off the ball.

No – this a different order of failure. This happened by design, not accident.

Policies were reformed deliberately to liberalise immigration.

Brexit was used for that purpose to turn Britain into a one-nation experiment in open borders.

Global Britain – remember that slogan. That is what they meant. A policy with no support and which they then pretended wasn’t happening.

And now they want to wave it away with a simple “we got it wrong”.

Well that’s unforgivable. And mark my words – this Government will turn the page.

That begins in the economy, because you cannot separate this failure, from their refusal to do the hard yards on skills, on welfare reform, on giving our young people opportunities, rather than the easy answers of looking overseas.

Because clearly – the vast majority of people who entered this country did so to plug gaps in our workforce.

Skills shortages across the country which have left our economy hopelessly reliant on immigration, 2.8 million people out of work on long-term sickness – a problem ignored, left to fester.

One in eight young people not in employment or education or training.

Sectors of our economy, like engineering, where apprenticeships have almost halved in the last decade, while visas have doubled.

So we are taking a different approach. We will publish a White Paper imminently – which sets out a plan to reduce immigration.

The Migration Advisory Committee is already conducting a review and where we find clear evidence of sectors that are over reliant on immigration. We will reform the points-based system and make sure that applications for the relevant visa routes, whether it’s the skilled worker route, or the shortage occupation list, will now come with new expectations on training people here in our country.

We will also crack down on any abuse of the visa routes. For far too long, we’ve been casual about malpractice in our labour market which sends a clear signal, overseas that we are soft touch.

Well – no more. Our rules will be enforced, any employers who refuse to play ball, they will be banned from hiring overseas labour and I’m pleased to announce today: a new security agreement between Iraq and the UK

This is a world-first, that will help us smash the people smuggling gangs and secure our borders.

The Home Secretary has been out in Iraq to seal this deal and we’ve also announced funding for Iraqi law enforcement to tackle this problem up-stream way before it reaches our shores.

We’re also tackling the utter mess we inherited in the Home Office. Asylum returns – up 53% in the last 12 months compared with the previous year. Total returns – up 34% in the last year and we will keep on going because this is the work of change.

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And alongside the NHS and the economy, securing our borders is the issue that matters to working people.

You know, what people want from politics – is not unreasonable. They want order and security, borders that we control, an NHS that protects you, an economy that offers secure work and good opportunities. Not just for a few at the top, but for everyone.

Let me say directly to people watching, where the last government failed you – this one will not.

They drove immigration numbers up – we will get them down. They left the NHS flat on its face – we will get it standing tall again. They made you poorer – we will put more money in your pocket.

It won’t be quick or easy – but we are going to turn things around, not with gimmicks, but with graft.

A government that will not rest, until the foundations are fixed, borders are secure, and Britain is rebuilt.Thank you.

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