Keir Starmer to give Downing Street press conference on major immigration update

Keir Starmer will give a Downing Street press conference shortly as the Government unveils a major immigration crackdown.

The Prime Minister will promise a "clean break with the past" as he sets out sweeping reforms to reduce net migration. Addressing the nation, he will promise that "enforcement will be tougher than ever and migration numbers will fall".

He is expected to speak at around 8.30am ahead of the Government publishing its long-awaited immigration white paper. This will contain a string of measures to make it harder for people to permanently settle in the UK.

Migrants will need to live in Britain for a decade before they can apply for citizenship - instead of the current five year period. However, high-skilled workers such as nurses, doctors, engineers and AI leaders could be fast-tracked under the plans. English language requirements will be tightened across all visa routes - and all adult dependents will be required to demonstrate a basic understanding of English.

Skilled worker visas will require a university degree and a care visa route for overseas workers will be closed under the plans, sparking a fierce backlash from industry bosses. The Government is battling to slash net migration - the difference between people arriving in the UK and leaving it - which ballooned to 728,000 in 2024 despite a string of Tory PMs promising to get numbers down.

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It comes as seeks to neutralise the threat from after Reform UK swept to power in 10 councils in England and snatched a by-election win in Labour-held Runcorn and Helsby by six votes. But the crackdown is likely to be controversial - with care providers branding a ban on overseas recruitment "cruel".

The PM is expected to say: “This is a clean break from the past and will ensure settlement in this country is a privilege that must be earned, not a right.

"And when people come to our country, they should also commit to integration and to learning our language. Lower net migration, higher skills and backing British workers – that is what this White Paper will deliver.”

But the measures - to be laid out in a document published on Monday - will be extremely controversial. Prof Nicola Ranger, the general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing will tell its annual congress that the Government's plans are about "pandering and scapegoating".

She will say: "The UK is so reliant on overseas colleagues, especially in social care. The Government has no plan to grow a domestic workforce. This is about politics - pandering and scapegoating.

"It should be about people." Meanwhile Care England's chief executive Martin Green earlier labelled the Government's plans as "cruel".

On Sunday Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said previous governments left behind "broken promises", adding: "We're not going to really failed approach, because I think what we need to do is rebuild credibility and trust in the whole system."

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