Home Secretary Yvette Cooper laid out the government's plans to curb net migration on today's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, ahead of the publication of a White Paper on immigration in the coming days.

The new measures include cutting the number of visas for lower-skilled workers by up to 50,000, ending the recruitment of care workers from abroad and ramping up standards on graduate visas.

That will have consequences for migrants looking to work and study in the UK, employers and the economy as a whole.

However, shadow home secretary Chris Philp said Labour's plan wasn't going far enough. Instead, he said the Conservatives would cut net migration further - but did not specify a target.

We also heard from Steph, who shared her story of abuse as a child by men - one, she believes, was a police officer. "[I was] just locked in a house," she says. "Just passed to people, people taking turns on me."

Cooper was pressed on why the government had not called a national inquiry into the issue. The home secretary said more can be done to tackle child abuse and the government was waiting for the outcome of a national audit - expected later this month.

We are closing our live page now and we'll be back next week for another episode of Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.

• Time to end care worker recruitment from abroad, Cooper says
• What's likely to be in Labour's immigration crackdown?
• Labour to unveil big immigration plans next week - but will they win back votes?

On Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Yvette Cooper spoke about toughening the rules around graduate visas saying that "we are making some changes," but provided little details.

Currently, international students are entitled to apply for a two-year graduate visa after they finish their course - the cost of which can run into thousands of pounds.

Cooper said universities needed to tackle issues concerning some foreign students.

"They've recruited people to come as international students who then haven't completed their courses, have either overstayed or...other problems with compliance of the system.

"We're going to increase those standards."

Changes to graduate visas may spark concern for universities, who have become increasingly reliant on higher fees from international students in recent years,

Home Office figures show UK sponsored study visas dropped by 31%, external, external – from 600,024 in 2023 to 415,103 in 2024.

Universities UK, which represents 141 institutions, said in March measures to reduce net migration have "created significant uncertainty around the UK's post-study work offer".

Lower-skilled workers

• "We expect to lead to a reduction of up to 50,000 fewer lower-skilled visas over the course of the next year," Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said
• Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp says the Conservatives would go further - describing the cut of 50,000 "too little" - but did not commit to a figure

Care workers

• Cooper said "we do think it is time to end that care worker recruitment from abroad"
• "Effectively they came to jobs that weren't actually here or that were not of a proper standard," she added
• Home Office records show 27,000 visas were issued to health and social care workers coming to the UK in the 12 months to December 2024
• Philp said those without work in the UK should be trained in professions such as caring, and that the UK can't keep importing "cheap labour"

International students

• Cooper said the government would ramp up standards on graduate visas
• "[Universities] have recruited people to come as international students, who then haven't completed their courses, have either overstayed or caused other problems with compliance in the system," she said

• Those on graduate visas can stay and work in the UK for two years. According to the Home Office, there were 114,409 graduate visas granted for main applicants, external, and 29,475 for dependants in 2023

David Wallace Lockhart
Political correspondent

Scotland's First Minister John Swinney has accused the UK government of "running scared of Farage" after they announced a crackdown on migration.

John Swinney told BBC Scotland's The Sunday Show that there was a "positive argument to be made for immigration" when it came to economic growth.

He added that he wanted international students to be able to stay in Scotland longer after graduation so that they could contribute to the economy.

The SNP leader told BBC Scotland that it was "absolute folly" to not allow students to stay once their studies were complete.

He argued that the debate around migration was "all being presented on the terms of Nigel Farage".

The first minister said that his government had given UK ministers their views on the issue, but their suggestions were being "thrown aside".

The thorny issue of net migration took centre stage in today's programme. Let's take a look at the major announcements:

• Home Secretary Yvette Cooper pledged up to 50,000 fewer visas for low-skilled workers but refrained from committing to a target for net migration
• Cooper said "it is time to end" the visa route for overseas care workers, a move supported by the shadow home secretary Chris Philp
• Instead, Cooper insisted care worker shortages in the UK can be met by extending the visas of foreign staff already in the UK
• Cooper pledged to ramp up standards on graduate visas, arguing some universities haven't had proper checks in place
• "They've recruited people to come as international students who then haven't completed their courses, have either overstayed," she said
• Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the Conservatives would go further and slash "significantly more than 50,000" visas, adding the Tories would back an annual cap on migration
• The programme also addressed grooming gangs and heard from a victim, Steph, who waived her anonymity. She said she felt nothing had changed, adding she feels "betrayed" by politicians
• In response, Cooper was pressed on why the government did not commit to a national inquiry. Cooper said more can be done to tackle child abuse and the government was waiting for the outcome of a national audit - expected later this month

Earlier, Kuenssberg asked Yvette Cooper about how immigration changes would affect graduate visas.

She asked Cooper if international students will still be allowed to stay in the UK for two years after they graduate - which they are currently able to do.

"We are making some changes," Cooper said, adding that the government will continue to value and welcome international students.

Rather, Cooper wants to improve standards and compliance in UK universities.

On this, she said some universities haven't had proper standards in place.

"They've recruited people to come as international students who then haven't completed their courses, have either overstayed or...other problems with compliance of the system.

"We're going to increase those standards."

We are now hearing from musician Yungblud on the show, who discusses the price of festival tickets.

Yungblud says the cost of some tickets are out of reach for fans and tells Laura that he couldn't stand on stage thinking "that's ok".

That's it for this week's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.

Stay with us while we continue to bring you the key lines from today's show.

Kuenssberg asks Philp if it was a mistake for the last government to rely on hotels to house asylum seekers.

Philp says the answer is to stop small boat crossings across the English Channel in the first place.

He cites Australia and the US as examples of countries who have tackled this but clarifies: "I'm not condoning the detail of every single deportation in the US."

He says he supports the principle of deterring migrants from attempting to cross the Channel if they know they will be taken somewhere else upon arrival, "for example Rwanda".

He says the former government's Rwanda policy was ready to go.

"This year has been the worst year in history for illegal small boat crossings because [the government] cancelled that plan," he adds.

Kuennsberg asks Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, what his party's cap on net migration would be given that Yvette Cooper says she plans to cut 50,000 lower-skilled worker visas this year.

Philp says they are still working on it and, after being pressed further, he says it will be "significantly more than 50,000". We need to " slash" levels of legal migration which are far too high, he says.

He says the current situation also undermines social cohesion.

Asked how he would respond to businesses who say they need more workers, he says he would encourage businesses to invest in technology and automation.

Philp also thinks those who are economically inactive should be brought back into the workforce and trained up in professions such as caring - he says we can't keep importing "cheap labour".

He goes on to support the government's plan to crack down on care worker visas and says the Conservatives are on the side of business.

Up now is Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary. Kuenssberg begins by asking which proposed changes of Yvette Cooper's he disagrees with.

He says the government's plan to reduce migration by 50,000 this year is "too little".

He concedes the last Conservative government did too little on migration, and he wants to see more action.

He says tomorrow he will put forward a vote in Parliament on an annual cap on migration "voted for and set by Parliament to restore proper democratic accountability".

He adds that it's been bad for the economy to have low-skill migrants entering the country, rather than investing in technology and getting the unemployed into the workforce.

One of the subjects covered by today's programme is grooming gangs.

For more than a decade, there has been a series of high-profile cases involving groups of men in the UK convicted of sexually abusing girls.

In 2022, child protection expert Professor Alexis Jay published a report on a seven-year investigation into child sexual abuse in England and Wales.

The inquiry found that children had been harmed both online and offline by child abuse networks – or grooming gangs - described the situation as an "epidemic that left thousands of victims in its poisonous wake".

The Conservatives have been calling for a second national inquiry into grooming gangs since the issue was thrust back into the spotlight by tech billionaire Elon Musk.

In January, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans to launch five government-backed local inquiries in grooming gangs, but stopped short of a national inquiry.

Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch has accused PM Keir Starmer of "dragging his heels", and insists a national inquiry is needed. Starmer says the government is implementing the recommendations of the 2022 report.

On grooming gangs, Cooper says these are the "most horrendous crimes of all".

She says the most urgent thing is for "much stronger police investigations," with more perpetrators behind bars.

Kuenssberg challenges Cooper on the government's stance in refusing a national inquiry and the "lack of urgency" on implementing recommendations already made.

The home secretary admits that there is more that can be done but says much of it will depend on the findings of the Casey report.

The government commissioned a national audit, led by Baroness Casey, "to uncover the true scale of grooming gangs in the UK today, including look at ethnicity," a Home Office spokesperson said in April.

The audit is expected to be released later in May, according to Home Office minister Jess Phillips.

Kuenssberg is now speaking to Steph, a victim of child abuse at the hands of a grooming gang, who told her story in a recent Channel 4 documentary.

She's now decided to go public for the first time, waiving her right to anonymity. No one has ever faced justice for abusing her.

When she was 12, Steph was living in a children's home and would go out drinking and taking drugs with friends.

It was at that time, she says, she was routinely abused by men. She believes one of them was a police officer.

"[I was] just locked in a house," she says. "Just passed to people, people taking turns on me."

She says she would scream for help, but no one came to her aid. Today, for Steph, it feels like nothing has changed.

"You see young girls still doing what I was doing," she tells Kuenssberg, adding that she feels "betrayed" by politicians.

Greater Manchester Police say they have accepted and apologised for past failings and are committed to ensuring victims are listened to and supported, regardless of who’s committed these offences and how long ago it occurred.

Earlier in the interview, Cooper says she is seeking a "substantial reduction" in net migration but won't be drawn on a figure.

But she does say changes this year will see 50,000 fewer visas for lower-skilled workers being issued next year.

At the moment, the Home Office is not notified if foreign nationals commit a crime, Cooper says.

She says the government has increased the deportation of foreign national offenders by 16% since the election, and wants to go further.

There are lots of repeat offenders, she adds, who might be in the UK on short-term visas.

"Those visas should be revoked. Those people should be returned."

Cooper is asked about visas for care workers and says rules will change to restrict recruitment from abroad.

She says current care worker visas will be allowed to be extended but employers shouldn't be recruiting from abroad going forward, which is a "significant change".

She says: "We do think it is time to end that care worker recruitment from abroad."

Kuenssberg points out there are already shortages and care homes will be worried about how they will get enough staff. However, Cooper insists there is a pool of foreign workers already in the UK.

Cooper confirms there will also be changes to graduates right to work after university.

Yvette Cooper says there will be a temporary shortage list for the construction industry, for example, allowing workers to be recruited from abroad.

She says there are plans to train 60,000 more construction workers to plug shortages.

But there are other industries that won't be allowed to recruit from overseas, and will have to train people in the UK instead.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is asked if she's making it harder for companies to hire skilled workers and to do business in the UK.

Cooper says it's a fundamental shift in approach to link immigration with skills and training saying previous strategies were a "failed free market experiment".

She insists her government is switching that around, with new visa controls on lower-skilled migration and new requirements for training.

We begin with Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, who is asked if immigration is good for the economy.

"Overall, I think it's good," he says, adding that most economies have needs for immigrants, including the US.

"If we didn't have immigrants, we would come to a screeching halt."

Louis Mosely, CEO of Palantir UK, says the proposed immigration changes won't likely affect his business as it employs largely "high-skill, high-wage end of the spectrum".

He says his concern is more around public trust, and that repeated governments' promises to bring down net migration haven't been met.

Sian Williams says there has been a "huge change" in the conversation around migration, including the language used.

"There are lots of challenges that all governments have faced."