Keir Starmer promises to reduce net migration and "tighten up" the immigration system
The proposed changes include English tests for all visa applicants and their adult dependants, as well as a longer route to settled status - we've taken a glance at what's in the White Paper
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch says Labour "can't be trusted" to protect UK borders, as Reform leader Nigel Farage accuses Starmer of "making promises he can't keep"
The PM also wants to cut recruitment of overseas care workers; a care home manager tells the BBC that carers aren't "unskilled"
BBC Verify looks into why it will be difficult to measure whether Starmer's plan is a success or failure
The measures aim to reduce legal migration, which makes up the majority of migration to the UK. It doesn't include addressing small boat crossings, or other ways people arrive in the UK without permission - see the figures here
Starmer: 'Migration will fall - that's a promise'
In the next few minutes we'll be hearing from Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
He is set to outline Labour's long-awaited migration rules which will be published in a White Paper later today.
We'll bring you the key lines right here - you can also follow along by pressing watch live at the top of the page.
Stay with us.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper laid out some of the government's plans to curb net migration on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.
Let's take a look at what she said:
Alison Holt
Social affairs editor
Many care companies supporting older and disabled people in their own homes, and in care homes, view overseas staff recruited in the last few years as a "lifeline".
Even with care workers being brought in from other countries, official estimates, external showed there were 131,000 vacancies in social care in England last year.
It means the government’s plans to stop care visas are causing real concern.
“The sector has been propping itself up with dwindling resources, rising costs, and mounting vacancies,” says Professor Martin Green of Care England, which describes itself as the largest representative body for independent care providers.
“Taking (international recruitment) away now with no warning, no funding, and no alternative, is not just short-sighted - it’s cruel,” he says.
Chris Mason
Political editor, reporting from Downing Street
This isn’t the view you might usually see — 10 Downing Street is just to the right beyond those barricades in the road.
The steps on the immediate right lead into 9 Downing Street, where I am typing this from — and from where the prime minister will talk to us and take questions at about half past eight.
No 9 is where the last government set up a news conference room. This government has since given it a bit of a makeover, but uses it for the same purpose.
Throughout the day we'll be referring to different terminology surrounding the government's White Paper on immigration.
We've unpicked some of the key terms you'll need to know:
Richard Tice, deputy Leader of Reform UK, tells BBC Breakfast Labour's White Paper does not include a target for the number of people legally migrating to the UK.
He says his party wants net zero immigration.
"There needs to be a target on where they want immigration to go to," he says.
People are coming into an "already overpopulated" island which is seeing poor quality in public services and housing, he adds.
Tice claims that the UK is "not short of people" but "short of the incentives to work".
"Mass immigration has led to the suppression of wages, and it's caused the quality of life to reduce for everybody," Tice says.
The ONS figures show that of the 1.2 million people who came to live in the UK in the 12 months to June 2024:
Of the one million non-EU+ nationals who came:
Among non-EU+ migrants, the most common nationality coming to the UK for both work-related (116,000) and study-related (127,000) reasons was Indian.
Amy Clark, a commercial director for a care home chain in Cornwall, says the sector is "very reliant on foreign workers".
She adds that ending recruitment from overseas would create "significant problems".
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, she says the "big problem" would be "if we weren't able to recruit any overseas staff because recruiting locally is very, very difficult".
She says to tackle the issue properly the government would need to look at the benefit system, arguing this makes working on a wage slightly above the national minimum "unattractive".
She adds that overseas staff are "highly valued" members of the team who provide good care.
We're waiting on the government to release the latest White Paper on immigration, which is compiled of months of research by officials.
It is set to lay out Labour's long-awaited migration rules - but what actually is a White Paper?
A White Paper is an official government document, which presents the final, finished version of a government's proposal.
They are used to share the plans with the public and to provide guidance. Sometimes, they include a draft version of a planned Bill.
The BBC has been told the changes are likely to require a change to primary legislation, delaying implementation until the next parliamentary session in 2026.
Image source, PA MediaKeir Starmer's announcement on immigration "will not go far enough", shadow home secretary Chris Philp tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
Legal migration has been far too high in recent years, he adds, arguing that high levels of low-skill migration puts too much pressure on the country and the economy.
Philp, asked about Labour's plans to end the visa route for overseas care workers, says social care is important and "it only takes a matter of a few weeks" to train to work in this role.
When pushed on where the funds to train people in the UK will come from, Philp says people who come into the country already get that training, and the government needs to get people back into work, and end "benefit dependency".
On the topic of family visas, he says under the Conservative proposals, people can bring family members over but there would be an annual limit set yearly by Parliament.
Image source, ReutersWe've already heard what Keir Starmer will say in today's announcement on migration policy, but what have opposition parties been saying?
The Conservative Party says the idea that Keir Starmer "is tough on immigration is a joke" and promise to push Parliament to introduce a cap on migration.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has said her party got it "wrong" on immigration.
The party spent 14 years in government pledging to reduce net migration - the difference between those entering and leaving - but it hit a record of 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
But it is calling Labour's plans "too little", and claiming Tory plans would have lowered net migration by about 400,000.
The Liberal Democrats say the immigration system is in "tatters", and that it looks forward to scrutinising the government's plans.
Meanwhile Reform UK claim its strong performance in the local elections in England was due to public anger about both legal and illegal migration.
In the year to June 2024, net migration stood at 728,000.
This was lower than the previous year, when it had climbed to a record of 906,000.
Next Thursday, the latest data will be published. It is expected to show a drop in figures, as the government previously announced a cut in visas granted last year.
Looking ahead, the Office for Budget Responsibility predicts this number could fall to a low of 115,000.
The main type of visas now being applied for are seasonal worker visas. These allow someone to come to the UK to work for a limited period of time.
Image source, EPAKeir Starmer is promising to overhaul what he describes as a "broken" immigration system.
He is expected to set out his plans at 08:30 BST, and we have a sense of what he's expected to say based on extracts released last night.
The government's proposals will "create a system that is controlled, selective and fair", and is aimed at "lower net migration, higher skills and backing British workers" Starmer is due to say.
He expected 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."
The changed system will recognise "those who genuinely contribute to Britain’s growth and society, while restoring common sense and control to our borders", he will 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," Starmer will say, adding that people who come to the UK should "commit to integration".
Chris Mason
Political editor
The current net migration numbers are "beyond unsustainable", one senior government figure told me.
Put simply, there is a political imperative to get the numbers down and they hope they have found a way to do it that helps people feel better off, rather than having a negative economic impact.
So expect, for instance, that the most prized immigrants – the most highly skilled and the most high earning – will be able to secure permanent residence much quicker than others.
The White Paper is the work of the last six or seven months.
Ministers hope to deliver some things quickly – cutting by 50,000 the number of lower skilled and care workers coming to the UK pretty much straight away.
Other plans are expected to be set out in an immigration bill at the next King's Speech.
The aim is that by the time the next general election is close, in 2028 or 2029, the prime minister can point to a trend which bucks what we have seen so far this century.
His credibility, and that of the Conservatives, Reform UK and others will be shaped by how successful or otherwise he is.
Read Chris Mason's full analysis: Why Labour aims to buck 25-year trend of rising legal migration
Matt Spivey
Live editor
Welcome to our live coverage, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer set to announce the government's plans to cut net migration at 08:30 BST.
Starmer described the plans as a "clean break from the past" that will "ensure settlement in this country is a privilege that must be earned, not a right".
The new plans are aimed at cutting net migration - the number of people who arrive minus the number who leave. This stood at 728,000 last year, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg it was "time to end" the recruitment of care workers from abroad, and she said new measures would cut up to 50,000 lower-skilled workers coming from abroad next year.
Later today, the Home Office will release its immigration White Paper, proposing new rules on work and study visas in the UK.
We'll be following the prime minister's statement, plus reaction and analysis, on this page.
