‘By design, not accident’: U.K. PM Starmer on migration numbers under the Tories

Indians were the largest group of migrants in the non-EU category for work (116,000) and study (127,000); any policy changes would likely impact Indian citizens.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer accused Conservative governments before him of conducting an experiment with open borders and allowing record high migration intentionally, after official migration data released on Thursday (November 28, 2024) showed that net migration to the U.K. was 9,06,000 in the year ending June 2023. The figure had been revised upwards from initial estimates. Mr. Starmer vowed to “turn the page” on migration as he promised stricter policies.

Indians were the largest group of migrants in the non-EU category for work (116,000) and study (127,000); any policy changes would likely impact Indian citizens. The other highly represented countries, in descending order, were Nigeria, Pakistan, China and Zimbabwe.  

“Policies were reformed, deliberately, to liberalise immigration. Brexit was used for that purpose: to turn Britain into a one-nation experiment in open borders,” Mr. Starmer said at a press conference on Thursday (November 28, 2024).

“Because a failure on this scale isn’t just bad luck… this happened by design, not accident,”  he said, as he accused Conservative governments who were in power from 2010 to 2014 of using Britain’s exit from the European Union, i.e, Brexit, as a tool to liberalise migration.

Current migration levels are significantly higher than the pre-pandemic net migration figure of 2,24,000 in June 2019 and before migration curbs kicked in, in early 2021, due to Britain’s exit from the EU.

The Office of National Statistics (ONS) data released for the year ending June 2024, when Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was in power, showed a decline of 20% to 7,28,000 from the previous year. The fall is mostly explained by the Sunak government’s curbs on students and care workers bringing family members to the U.K. and higher salary thresholds for migrants. The latest date ending June 2024 only account for a few months of those policies which were announced earlier this year.

“I know we have got a lot of work to do, but the first step is to accept that mistakes were made…,” Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said in a speech in London on Thursday (November 28, 2024).

‘Stopping the small boats’ – ending the entry of undocumented migrants through the English Channel  — was one of the Sunak government’s pledges in addition to clamping down on legal migration.

The number of those claiming asylum was a minor part of the overall numbers — 91,000 in the year ending June 2023 and down to 84,000 in the year ending June 2024. U.K. Home Office data showed the [Conservative] government spent £5.38 billion on asylum in 2023-24, an increase from the previous year.

“Now they [the Conservatives] want to wave it away with a simple ‘We got it wrong,’“ Mr. Starmer said.

The Labour government would “turn the page”, Mr. Starmer said, as he promised a White Paper on migration and to reform the point-based visa system. The Prime Minister said the government would crack down on visa abuse, with employers who break rules being barred from hiring overseas workers.

Some of Mr. Starmer’s comments on Thursday (November 28, 2024) appeared to echo U.S. President-elect Donald Trump whose campaign focused on the economy and security and the border – issues that helped him beat Democratic opponent Kamala Harris, who was seen as weak on border security.  

“You know, what people want from politics is not unreasonable. They want order and security. Borders that we control. An NHS (National Health Service) that protects you. An economy that offers secure work and good opportunities,” Mr. Starmer said.

Published - November 29, 2024 07:53 pm IST