Huge immigration crackdown launched as Keir Starmer vows to STOP courts from letting foreign crooks dodge deportation

THE Prime Minister will today unveil his long-awaited blueprint to slash migration — and he told The Sun: “If you break British law, you give up your right to be here.”

Judges who let foreign offenders dodge deportation with bonkers human rights claims will finally be brought to heel under Sir Keir Starmer’s plans.

ReutersSir Keir Starmer and Labour will today unveil their long-awaited blueprint to slash migration[/caption]

AFPSir Keir is unveiling his plan days after a battering by Nigel Farage in this month’s local elections[/caption]

The Premier last night confirmed that he will stop courts thwarting removals with a “spurious reading of immigration rules” as part of a “common sense” crackdown.

Today’s package will focus on cutting the hundreds of thousands who arrive legally each year.

Controls will be tightened across “every area of the immigration ­system”.

And most migrants will need to have lived in the UK for ten years to be able to apply for settlement, up from the current five years.

Only highly-skilled foreign workers who demonstrate a valuable contribution to the economy will be fast-tracked to ensure settlement is “a privilege that must be earned, not a right”.

English tests will be toughened, and family members of overseas workers will also for the first time need to speak the language and demonstrate a “commitment to integration”.

Almost a million people in England can barely speak the language, leaving them struggling to integrate.

Bosses will also be banned from hiring any more foreign care workers, who have contributed to big rises in net migration in recent years.

Despite the crackdown, ministers were last night accused of “merely tinkering at the edges” after ­refusing to enforce a hard cap on the annual arrivals.

But many voters will likely be encouraged that Sir Keir is taking action to stop migrants evading removal by making bogus human rights claims.

Recent cases have seen foreign offenders granted permission to stay after invoking their “right to a family life” under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

One Albanian drug dealer even tried to fight his deportation because his son did not like ­foreign chicken nuggets.

The Sun last week revealed government proposals to change the law, ordering judges to throw out such absurd claims.

Confirming the plans, the PM said last night: “Sun readers are right to wonder what’s going on when migrants with no right to be in the UK are allowed to arrive and stay, based on spurious reading of the immigration rules.

Getting a grip

“We’re going to get a grip. As part of the Immigration White Paper that I will say more on on Monday, we will make sure it is Parliament that makes the rules on immigration.

“If you break British law, you give up your right to be here.

“We’ll inject common sense into the system so there’s control and fairness at the heart of deciding who stays.”

Sir Keir is unveiling his immigration blueprint after getting thumped by Nigel Farage in this month’s local elections.

Reform’s hardline stance on immigration has seen them overtake Labour in the opinion polls just ten months after last summer’s election landslide.

Today’s Immigration White Paper was first promised by the PM in November following public rage at 2024 net migration standing at 728,000, down from a record 906,000 in 2023.

The overwhelming majority of migrants arrived in the UK legally either on work, study or family visas.

In a striking change of tone on the subject, ministers yesterday finally accepted that decades of soaring migration have not been good for the economy.

AlamyHome Secretary Yvette Cooper yesterday ruled out putting a target on the level of net migration, saying successive Tory governments had failed to hit their goals[/caption]

No 10 last night said the “open borders experiment” had led to strains on public services, surging housing costs, and Brits passed over for jobs in favour of cheap foreign hires.

It indicates a gear-shift from the long-standing Treasury orthodoxy that migration is good for ­economic growth.

Failed to hit goals

Addressing the nation this ­morning, the PM is due to say: “For years we have had a system that encourages businesses to bring in lower-paid workers, rather than invest in our young people. That is the Britain this broken system has created. Every area of the immigration system, including work, family and study, will be tightened up so we have more control. Enforcement will be tougher than ever and migration numbers will fall. We will create a system that is controlled, selective and fair.”

He will say that living in Britain must be “a privilege that must be earned, not a right”, and that migrants must “commit to integration and to learning our language”.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper yesterday ruled out putting a target on the level of net migration, saying successive Tory governments had failed to hit their goals.

She said the new restrictions on care and low-skilled workers alone would see 50,000 fewer visas issued by the end of the year.

Annual net migration is already forecast to settle at around 300,000 in the next five years after shooting up to close to a million in 2023.

Tory Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said he wanted the numbers to come down “substantially lower than that” and demanded a binding cap on yearly arrivals.

He last night panned ­Labour’s package and said the “idea that Starmer is tough on immigration is a joke”.

Mr Philp added: “Starmer is the same man who wrote letters ­protesting against deporting dangerous foreign criminals and has overseen the worst ever start to a year for illegal immigrants crossing the Channel.”

The Reform Party added: “Labour’s announcement today merely tinkers around the edges. This plan is doomed to fail.”

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