Success or failure of Starmer's promise will be difficult to measurepublished at 11:23 British Summer Time

11:23 BST

Image source, EPA

By Anthony Reuben

It is not entirely clear how we will be able to tell if this plan has worked.

Keir Starmer said in his briefing: “This plan means migration will fall – that’s a promise.”

That’s not a big change from his party’s manifesto, which said: “Labour will reduce net migration."

Asked about whether this would mean a fall every year, Starmer replied: “I’m promising it will fall significantly, and I do want to get it down by the end of the Parliament significantly.”

But “significantly” is not measurable and he declined to give any actual targets, citing the failure of previous caps and quotas.

For example, in 2010 the Conservatives pledged to reduce net migration to “tens of thousands”.

The Office for Budget Responsibility, which carries out the government’s forecasts, said in March that it was expecting net migration to fall “sharply”., external

They predict a fall from 728,000 in the year to mid-2024 to 258,000 in the year to mid-2027, before rising to 340,000 in 2029-30.

Simon Jones
BBC reporter

Refugee charity Care4Calais, who provide humanitarian aid in northern France and the UK, accuse 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: "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."

A migrant has died and several others are injured after 68 people tried to cross the English Channel in a small boat overnight.

The boat was wrecked off Hardelot in northern France, leaving some suffering from hypothermia and burns.

Those rescued were taken to the port of Boulogne sur mer.

Emergency services, including a patrol boat and French navy helicopter, attended the scene to assist.

As a reminder: Starmer's announcement today is focused on legal migration, not illegal routes into the UK such as small boats.

Image source, PA Media

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch says Labour doesn’t believe in secure borders.

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

This appears to be a reference to a book review Starmer wrote when he was a lawyer in the late 1980s, in which he said the author had highlighted the "racist undercurrent which permeates all immigration law".

Badenoch adds that the government previously laughed off her proposal to end the "automatic route to British citizenship".

She accuses Starmer, who is nine months into office, of voting against the Tories recent efforts to cut migration numbers.

"Starmer suddenly wants you to think he cares," she says, claiming that Labour "can't be trusted" to protect our borders.

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Scotland's deputy first minister, Kate Forbes, tells the Good Morning Scotland programme that she is "astonished" by the UK government's approach to immigration and adds Scotland needs a "distinct immigration system".

She says cutting the recruitment of overseas care workers is "absolutely baffling".

Forbes explains that so much of Scotland's economic growth has come from international students.

"Our approach remains that if the UK government isn't going to do it, then Scotland needs a distinct approach to an immigration system.

"I am in no doubt whatsoever that our care system is going to suffer from the changes."

Image source, EPA

We're hearing some reaction now from Reform UK's Nigel Farage, who says that Starmer is making "promises he can’t keep".

In a post on X, Farage also shares videos which he says "show the scenes" in Calais and Dover this morning.

Shortly before the prime minister started speaking, Farage said: "On the day of Keir Starmer’s big fightback against Reform UK, 250 young men are already crossing the Channel by 08:00. How many are Iranian terrorists?"

The BBC has not been able to verify this claim. Official statistics for boat crossings either today or yesterday have not been released.

The government's most recent figures, external show 58 people arrived in a single boat on Saturday and no crossings were recorded in the six days before.

Starmer's announcement today is about legal migration, rather than small boat crossings, but he did address the issue of small boat crossings earlier, saying a bill passing through Parliament will help tackle the gangs.

As we've been reporting, Starmer's new measures are intended to reduce legal migration, which makes up the largest proportion of migration into the UK.

Legal migration refers to people coming into the UK using mainly a range of visas.

Today's announcement is about reducing the number of people migrating to the UK by legal routes.

Net migration - the number of people coming to the UK minus the number leaving - climbed to a record 906,000 in June 2023, and last year it stood at 728,000, as seen in the chart below.

Starmer has not focused on illegal migration, for example those crossing the Channel by small boats, in today's announcement.

This year to date, 11,516 people have crossed the English Channel to the UK by boat.

In total last year, just under 40,000 people arrived by small boats, the highest figures were in 2022, when 45,755 people arrived.

Starmer confident of plans, despite some criticismpublished at 09:54 British Summer Time

09:54 BST

Rob Watson
Political correspondent

Keir Starmer was careful not to give a numerical target, but bold enough to insist net migration would fall in the years ahead.

Defending the new restrictions, the prime minister said high levels of immigration had not produced growth and were undermining social cohesion, threatening to turn Britain into what he called an island of strangers.

The government is being accused by some of not being tough enough, but by others of threatening health care and other sectors heavily dependent on foreign workers.

Overall it’s thought these measures would still leave net migration in the hundreds rather than the tens of thousands.

Imogen James
Live reporter

Image source, EPA

The prime minister promises net migration will fall "significantly", vowing that every area of the UK's immigration system will be tightened.

Changes made in the White Paper, which will be published today, will "finally take back control of our borders", he adds.

Without immigration controls, the UK risks becoming an "island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together".

Starmer says he has been left to "clear up the mess" after net migration quadrupled under the previous Conservative government.

Starmer doesn't want this to look like a panicked response to Reform's recent wins, writes our deputy political editor.

Image source, EPA

The prime minister is asked how voters can trust him when he pledged to reduce small boat crossings, when they are rising under his leadership.

Starmer says the last government "lost control of the borders" and his party has been left to "clear up that mess".

He says he is convinced the way to do that is to tackle the gangs, and says legislation is moving through Parliament to do so.

"What's your message to the nine million inactive adults in the UK right now?" Starmer is asked.

Starmer says that some of those "inactive" adults can't work, but there's others who can.

He says in Labour's welfare provisions it sets out the ways people who can't work should be protected.

He adds that people who can get into work should be supported.

The current system does the opposite, the PM claims. "If you can work you should work," he adds.

Image source, EPA

When asked on if he believes Article Eight of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is now a problem for his government.

For context: Article Eight of the ECHR states that people have a right to privacy in their private, family and home life, and correspondence. In this context, it is used often to challenge deportations in the UK.

Starmer says three years ago, he made the same argument he's making this morning - "take back control".

On the ECHR, he says they want to ensure the right balance is made in migration cases in relation to the national interests.

There's a balance set out in legislation already, which he says needs to be adjusted and "that's what we will do".

Starmer has just finished speaking, stay with us as we bring you the key developments.

Starmer doesn't want this to look like a panicked response to Reform's recent winspublished at 08:52 British Summer Time

08:52 BST

Vicky Young
Deputy political editor

The Prime Minister has been careful not to set a target or cap on lower immigration but has promised today that it will fall “significantly”.

The Conservatives say changes they made to the system mean that’s already inevitable.

Keir Starmer was keen to point to past speeches he’s made on this issue - he doesn't want this to look like a panicked response to Reform’s recent wins.

He’s also framing this as an opportunity for British workers to gain more skills and get better jobs, hoping to keep his own MPs onside.

Image source, EPA

Starmer is asked whether he thinks the increase in time it takes to get settled status in the UK means he has shot himself in the foot.

Starmer says the theory that higher migration necessarily leads to higher growth has been tested in the last four years, and says that "link doesn't hold".

He says the White Paper is not just about immigration, it's also about skills and training, saying the reason the UK has had stagnant growth is because "we have underinvested chronically" in those.

On the latest news that the US and China have agreed a deal on tariffs, he says he is not across the details.

BBC's political editor Chris Mason asks Starmer if he is promising net migration will fall every year between now and the next general election.

The PM says he's promising it will fall "significantly".

He repeats that this White Paper makes immigration "controlled, selective and fair".

Starmer now shares some specifics from the White Paper.

This includes the time it takes to get settled status rising from five to 10 years.

"Make no mistake, this plan means migration will fall, that's a promise."

If the government "do need to take further steps" to release pressure on housing and public services, then "mark my words, we will", he adds.

Starmer is now facing questions from the press, starting with BBCs Chris Mason, we'll bring you what he has to say in our next post.

Starmer says Britain must "compete for the best talent in the world" and that the government cannot just "pull up the drawbridge".

He says we have to ask why parts of the economy are "almost addicted to importing cheap labour".

He says the White Paper sets out that every area of the immigration system - work, family and study - "will be tightened up so we have more control".

"I'm doing it because it's right, it's fair, and what I believe in," Starmer tells the news conference.

He says an an immigration system "almost designed to permit abuse" and one that encourages some business to bring in low paid workers, rather than investing in "our young people", does not champion growth or justice.

He says migration is part of Britain's national story, but that migrants should commit to integration, including through learning English.