'Incredibly Depressing': Starmer Dubbed 'A Pound Shop Farage' Over Immigration Crackdown

Keir Starmer unveils his plans at a Downing Street press conference.Keir Starmer has been savaged over his “cruel” plans to slash immigration to the UK.The prime minister said the UK’s “one nation experiment in open borders” was over as the government unveiled its crackdown.He said that unless Labour acts, the UK risks becoming “an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together”.Under the plans, migrants will have to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship, but so-called “high-contributing” individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system.Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English.Rules will also be laid out for adult dependants, meaning that they will have to demonstrate a basic understanding of the language as well.Meanwhile, skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.Care worker visas will also be scrapped, despite the high number of vacancies in the sector.Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, said: “This is a crushing blow to an already fragile sector. The government is kicking us while we’re already down.“For years, the sector has been propping itself up with dwindling resources, rising costs, and mounting vacancies. International recruitment wasn’t a silver bullet, but it was a lifeline.“Taking it away now, with no warning, no funding, and no alternative, is not just short-sighted – it’s cruel.”The reaction on social media to the government’s plans was also largely negative.Appalling language by Keir Starmer in his speech this morning. Immigrants have enriched our communities, and are our neighbours and our friends. To try to evoke fear of the “stranger” makes him nothing more than a pound shop Farage. Shameful, spineless, and short-sighted.— Laura Mitchell (@MorayLaura) May 12, 2025Incredibly depressing day. I've spent my entire life being told by British governments how dreadful immigration is. New Labour did it. The Coalition. The Brexiters. Now Starmer. All of them accusing the ones who came before them of failing to clamp down. The same old vacant mean-spirited bollocks.— Ian Dunt (@iandunt.bsky.social)2025-05-12T08:11:49.395ZThe problems in our society are not caused by migrants or refugees. They are caused by an economic system rigged in favour of corporations and billionaires.If the government wanted to improve people’s lives, it would tax the rich and build an economy that works for us all.— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) May 12, 2025Starmer calls immigration policy over the past years a 'squalid' period. What a choice of language.— Zoe Gardner (@ZoeJardiniere) May 12, 2025Why trying to out-Farage Farage is just never going to work for Labour.The most hardline, anti-migrant set of policies from any UK Government in recent years and the Daily Mail still portrays it as a betrayal pic.twitter.com/mwkV67BJP4— Adam Bienkov (@AdamBienkov) May 12, 2025My parents came over in 60s unable to speak a word of English, still got the job done. Integrated hugely within the Westmoor community, Could barely string a sentence together in pure English, paid their taxes and loved by all. This policy is racist dogwhistling not to mention… https://t.co/j16Y012EEV— Narinder Kaur (@narindertweets) May 12, 2025Cutting visa access will simply drive more people into dangerous irregular migration. Irregular Migration is a symptom of a restrictive border regime. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction…Will we ever step back & make migration. work for everyone? pic.twitter.com/qcLqXzqLEW— Lou Calvey (@LouCalvey) May 11, 2025Related...'We're Shutting Down The Lab': Keir Starmer Says The UK's 'Open Borders Experiment' Is OverKeir Starmer To Announce Plan To Overhaul Britain's 'Broken' Immigration SystemYvette Cooper Close Care Worker Visas In Migration Crackdown – But There's 1 Problem

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