The world grapples to make sense of Sir Keir Starmer’s new wave of UK immigration crackdown and reforms to bring net migration down. But the Brit prime minister has no plans to ease out on the trying reminders tied to the news.
Having already established that settlement in the country must be earned at a prior news conference, the 62-year-old Labour Party leader reiterated the statement via an X post on Tuesday. “Settlement in the UK is a privilege that is earned, not a right,” he wrote on the social media platform.
Slashing UK net migration: New immigration rules
If Starmer’s promises hold out their end of the bargain, net migration (difference between immigration and emigration) will have reduced by the end of the current parliament in 2029. Tightening up the rules on who may be allowed to come to the UK, he previously lauded the “clean break from the past,” which seeks to “ensure settlement in this country is a privilege that must be earned, not a right.”
Settlement in the UK is a privilege that is earned, not a right.
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) May 13, 2025
“And when people come to our country, they should also commit to integration and to learning our language,” he continued. “Lower net migration, higher skills and backing British workers – that is what this White Paper will deliver.”
UK migration numbers over the years
Net migration especially shot up following Brexit in January 2020. In the year to June 2023, the numbers soared to 903,000. Even though they fell to 728,000 in mid-2024, the stats still easily beat the significantly lower pre-Brexit peak of 329,000 up to June 2015.
As per the current protocols, migrants can acquire settled status after living in the UK for five years. However, the new plan has increased this threshold, leaving migrants with no choice but to live in the UK for 10 years. Contrarily, the “high-contributing” crowd, including doctors and nurses, could be allowed to go for settled status after five years, according to Sky News.
With settled status, people secure the right to work and live in the UK for as long as they wish. They may even apply for British citizenship.
Migrants to ‘earn the right’ to settlement
Sir Keir Starmer saying that those coming to the UK must “earn the right” to stay entails migrants proving they have a worthy grasp of basic English. They must “commit to integration and to learning our language,” he previously added. The new immigration rules also shift focus to training local British workers and relinquishing the reliance on overseas recruitment.
The suggested “clean break from the past” will re-position the system as “one that recognises those who genuinely contribute to Britain’s growth and society, while restoring common sense and control to our border.”