Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to reveal a new crackdown on immigration to the UK after record numbers were reached this year. The plan will be unveiled following local elections on May 1, when Reform UK is expected to win a huge majority of seats. The policy change will include closing a loophole that currently allows foreign students on graduate visas to stay in the country while taking low-paid jobs.
Home Office sources claim the long-awaited migration plans have been in progress since November, as opposed to being a reaction to what is expected to be a sweeping defeat for Labour in the local elections this week. On Thursday, Brits will vote for their next councillors, four mayors and a by-election in Runcorn. So what do you think?
Reform, led by Nigel Farage, is expected to seize the majority of council seats across the UK in a major step forward for the party. Reform also has its sights set on winning the Runcorn and Helsby by-election, triggered after Labour’s Mike Amesbury resigned.
The Prime Minister is yet to campaign in the constituency, which was branded “astonishing” by Mr Farage.
The party is currently leading nationwide polling at 25%, with Labour falling down to second place with 23% and the Conservatives in third at 21%.
Mr Farage’s hardline on immigration has won over many Brits as he vows to become the “deporter-in-chief” of illegal migrants. Annual net migration hit a record 906,000 in the year to June 2023, standing at a staggering 728,000 the following year.
The white paper detailing the crackdown on immigration is expected to be published before Sir Keir’s Brexit summit on May 19, where a reset of relations with the EU will begin.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper now plans to close the loophole on foreign students on graduate visas seamlessly moving across to health and social care visas. Labour has previously looked at closing this loophole by increasing a wage threshold for the types of jobs foreign graduates are allowed to switch to.
