Yvette Cooper says Labour is 'serious' about cutting net migration

Yvette Cooper today insisted Labour is 'serious' about reducing net migration but warned Britain must 'properly train young people' to replace overseas workers.

In her speech to Labour's conference in Liverpool, the Home Secretary said net migration 'must come down' after trebling under the Tories.

She also vowed to not let this summer's riots, which spread across the UK in the wake of the Southport stabbings, 'silence a serious debate on immigration'.

Ms Cooper launched a furious attack on the Conservatives - who she dubbed 'Right-wing wreckers' along with Reform UK - over their response to the violence.

The Home Secretary blasted those politicians who failed to give 'full-throated backing to our brave officers' amid claims of 'two tier' policing over the disorder.

Net migration - the difference between the number of people migrating to the UK and migrating from the UK - was just under 200,000 in 2009, which was the last year before the Tories won power.

It soared to 685,000 in 2023 despite repeated promises by five Conservative prime ministers to reduce inflows to Britain.

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In her conference speech this morning, Ms Cooper hit out at her Tory predecessors  and said a 'serious debate on immigration' had been 'missing for too long amid the chaos, the gimmicks and the damaging, ramped up rhetoric'.

She added: 'A serious government sees that net migration has trebled because overseas recruitment has soared while training has been cut right back, and says net migration must come down as we properly train young people here in the UK.

'A serious government sees an asylum system in chaos and say we have to clear the backlog and end asylum hotels.

'And a serious government looks at the criminal gangs who are profitting from undermining our border security while women and children are crushed to death in crowded, flimsy small boats and says they've got away with it for too long – we will not stand for this vile trade in human lives.

'A serious government knows that immigration is important, and that is why it needs to be properly managed and controlled so the system is fair – so rules are properly respected and enforced but we never again see a shameful repeat of the Windrush scandal that let British citizens down.'

Just weeks after Labour won power at the general election, Ms Cooper and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer were forced to deal with an outbreak of widespread disorder across the UK.

This summer's riots followed the fatal stabbings of young girls at a Taylor Swift themed dance class in Southport.

The Home Secretary condemned the violence as not being about 'immigration, or policing, or poverty', adding: 'It was racism, it was thuggery, it was crime.'

She also said she was 'shocked by the response from some of those in political parties on the Right who once claimed to care about law and order'.

The riots brought claims of 'two-tier' policing and accusations that officers treat some groups more harshly than others.

In a blast at those who questioned the police response to the riots, Ms Cooper said:  'After rioters attacked the police, they should have given full-throated backing to our brave officers.

'Instead, too often we've seen them undermine the integrity and authority of the police, even making excuses for the mob.

'If you remember, back in the run up to Armistice Day last year, disgraceful slurs made against the police which made it harder for them to do their job were treated as a sacking offence for a Tory home secretary.

'A year on, those same slurs have become an article of faith for every Tory leadership contender. It is shameful what that party has become.

'The Tories, with their mates in Reform, are just becoming right wing wreckers. Undermining respect for the law, trying to fracture the very bonds that keep communities safe.'