The Prime Minister took a tough stance when setting out his plans in a speech on Monday morning, claiming that the UK risks becoming “an island of strangers”.
Starmer quickly faced claims that his hardline rhetoric was an attempt to appeal to Reform voters, after the party achieved a series of victories at the local elections earlier this month.
With Reform currently enjoying a 10-point lead over Labour in the polls, the party is in a prime position to exploit any holes in Starmer’s wide-ranging immigration reforms.
Reform party leader Nigel Farage reacts as the party wins the Runcorn and Helsby by-election. (Photo: Reuters)The Conservatives have particularly embraced this issue, with shadow home secretary Chris Philp telling the Daily Mail that the lack of a cap was “laughable.”
His sentiments were echoed by shadow home office minister Matt Vickers, who said that without a cap, there is “no line in the sand” and that parliament should be held to account for migration numbers.
The lack of a cap could be a valuable tool for Reform, which has called for the far stricter measure of freezing all non-essential immigration, with limited exceptions for sectors with extreme shortages.
“Reform is leading in the polls because people want this issue sorted,” he said. “They want the boats to stop, and, frankly, I think the majority of this country agrees with our policy.”
Keir Starmer has faced staunch criticism from opposition parties for the Government’s latest white paper (Photo by Ian Vogler – WPA Pool/Getty Images)Nothing new on illegal migration
The Conservatives have jumped on this fact, with Philp claiming that “Starmer has no credibility on this issue”.
Starmer came to power last July with a promise to tackle illegal immigration by “smashing the gangs”, but his critics have been quick to point out that the number of small boats crossing the Channel so far this year has already surpassed 10,000.
“I am convinced that the way to do that is to take down the gangs that are running the vile trade, and for that reason, we’ve drafted and put before parliament a Borders Bill, which follows through on the promises I made… to give law enforcement greater powers,” he told reporters.
The party recently returned over 600 councillors at the local elections earlier this month on a platform which included a pledge to close asylum seeker hotels in the councils they control. Many of those staying in such hotels will likely have arrived in the UK by irregular means.
No clear plan for the care sector
The Government announced ahead of the white paper’s launch that, as part of its immigration crackdown, it would close the care worker visa route for overseas recruitment.
“For years, the sector has been propping itself up with dwindling resources, rising costs, and mounting vacancies,” he said.
According to the white paper, the social care workforce is forecast to be cut by 7,000 a year as a result of the change, with care homes now required to fill these vacancies from within the UK.
At first glance, this may appear to be an issue where Reform would struggle to gain the upper hand. However, Tice hit back against these claims, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that “if you have net zero immigration, you can identify particular skill shortages” and adding that “the care sector may be possibly the most deserving.”
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