With immigration limits, the U.K. vows to end a 'failed experiment in open borders'
May 12, 20253:05 PM ET
By
Lauren Frayer
,
Fatima Al-Kassab

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during a news conference, ahead of the publication of the government's immigration policy paper, in London, Monday.
Ian Vogler/Daily Mirror/AP
LONDON — Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced tighter British immigration rules, declaring an end to what he called a "squalid chapter" and a "failed experiment in open borders."
In a speech Monday, Starmer vowed to "take back control" with new rules that make it harder to obtain work, family and student visas to the United Kingdom. Migrant rights advocates criticized his wording as being more typical of the far right than of his center-left Labour Party.
"The damage [immigration] has done to our country is incalculable," the prime minister wrote in a policy paper.
Starmer said the changes, which still need Parliament's approval, are needed to maintain social cohesion, drive investment in the local workforce and prevent Britain from becoming "an island of strangers."