2024 Keir Starmer speech

The British Prime Minister Keir Starmer gave a speech on 28 November 2024 concerning immigration to the United Kingdom.

Background

Main article: Premiership of Keir Starmer

Keir Starmer became Prime Minister of the UK after the Labour Party won a large majority in the 2024 United Kingdom general election on a manifesto titled Change. Under Starmer's leadership, the Labour Party's position on immigration has shifted significantly towards advocating reduced immigration.

Summary

Starmer began the speech by claiming that "the previous Government were running an open borders experiment." He then stated that the Conservative Party had promised to reduce immigration levels into the UK, but failed and failed so on purpose, saying that "Brexit was used for that purpose to turn Britain into a one-nation experiment in open borders. Global Britain – remember that slogan. That is what they meant. A policy with no support and which they then pretended wasn't happening." He described this as "unforgivable."

Starmer continuing by talking about immigration and the economy, pointing to a number of factors that he claimed "have left our economy hopelessly reliant on immigration," including the number of people on long-term sick leave and reductions in apprenticeships.

He then pledged that the government would publish a white paper detailing a plan to reduce immigration, with input from the Migration Advisory Committee. He also listed a number of immigration reforms that would be included in the plan, such as reforms to the points-based immigration system, crackdowns on employer abuse of visa routes, and increased deportations. As well, he announced a deal with the government of Iraq including subsidies for Iraqi police, which he described as "a world-first, that will help us smash the people smuggling gangs and secure our borders."

Starmer continued by claiming that "securing our borders is the issue that matters to working people" alongside the economy and the NHS, saying that people "want order and security, borders that we control, an NHS that protects you, an economy that offers secure work and good opportunities.want order and security, borders that we control, an NHS that protects you, an economy that offers secure work and good opportunities." He finished by saying that his government "will not rest until the foundations are fixed, borders are secure, and Britain is rebuilt."

Reactions

Tobias Phibbs of the Common Good Foundation and Blue Labour praised the speech, saying that "across Europe, social democrats are leading the way in reasserting a world of nation-states and borders" and that "ending the deliberate policy of mass immigration is a rejection of the free market lie that human beings are fungible units that can pass undifferentiated across the smooth surface of the globe, and it allows us to move beyond the era of asymmetric globalisation." Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch claimed that there had been "collective failure of political leaders from all parties over decades" allowing excessive immigrations levels and that she "as the new leader accept responsibility and say truthfully, we got this wrong."

Former Conservative MP David Gauke described the speech as "the sort of hard-hitting language that Farage might use," saying that while immigration levels "are too high to maintain public support," the speech may fuel the rise of the Reform Party as it "validates the argument that reducing immigration merely requires the will to do so, and it does nothing to explain the trade-offs to the public."

Steve Valdez-Symonds of Amnesty International argued that there should be "no compromising on the need for asylum in a world torn by conflict, authoritarianism and oppression" and called for Starmer's governmen to "play its full and fair part in providing safety for people forced to flee abuses rather than continuing the last government's long and disastrous attempt to evade this responsibility."

See also

• Plan for Change, another major speech given by Starmer one week later.