Yvette Cooper vows to slash AT LEAST 100,000 visas as Labour hints at further migration crackdown

Speaking to the People’s Channel, the Home Secretary said: “Already we’re reducing the visas that we’re issuing, that’s already happening.

“Already we’re increasing returns - enforced returns are up more than 20 per cent since the election.

“And these measures go further. For example, some of the measures around working visas the skilled-workers visa, the care worker visa, the settlement rules, and the English language rules - those together would mean a reduction of 100,000 fewer visas, or fewer people arriving, just as a result of those measures”

Cooper hinted that further measures - including a workforce strategy, stronger rules around families and an immigration skills charge - could lead to further reductions in the future.

Visa exploitation has run rife through Britain’s care sector, with GB News already uncovering a surge in labour probes after more than 550,000 health and care visas were handed out following the Brexit transition period.

Unveiling Labour's plans to solve the migrant crisis this morning, Sir Keir Starmer announced that living in the UK is a privilege that must be earned, adding that his new migration White Paper will reduce Britain's reliance on overseas recruitment.

• Immigration White Paper: Keir Starmer's plan to fix Britain's 'broken' borders revealed
• Keir Starmer gives direct answer to GB News viewers as Christopher Hope grills him on migrant cap
• Keir Starmer warned Britain will be 'unable to take back control of borders' as 'invasion continues'

The White Paper also seeks to end automatic settlement and citizenship for anyone living here for five years.

Migrants will instead need to spend a decade in the UK before applying to stay unless they can show a real and lasting contribution to the economy and society.

Cooper is also being instructed to clampdown on migrants committing criminal offences, reducing the threshold for deportation to low-level offences.

However, during her sit-down with the People's Channel, the Home Secretary refused to get drawn in on whether she would enforce a cap on net migration.

When pushed by Christopher Hope on whether she would would set a net migration cap below 500,000, Cooper said: “We absolutely need to be substantially down.”

Net migration stood at just 321,000 in June 2016, with Covid-lockdowns bringing annual figures down to the tens of thousands.

The rate surged to an eyewatering 906,000 in June 2023, remaining at an unusually high 728,000 in June 2024.

Sir Keir Starmer also stopped short of imposing an overall net migration cap, instead pointing out that successive Tory Governments failed to meet their own targets.

Speaking from Downing Street earlier today, the Prime Minister said: "I am promising it will fall significantly and I do want to get it down by the end of this Parliament significantly."

Despite Cooper claiming the Immigration White Paper will cut visas by at least 100,000, Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice warned Starmer is unable to halt the ongoing "invasion".

Ex-Home Secretary Suella Braverman also said: "I’ve heard too many empty promises to believe this time will be any different. More empty rhetoric from Labour. Without leaving the ECHR and scrapping the Human Rights legislation we are unable to take back control of our borders."

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch added: "Keir Starmer once called all immigration laws racist. So why would anyone believe he actually wants to bring immigration down?

"When I proposed ending the automatic route to British citizenship and introducing a legally binding cap, the government laughed it off.

"Now, nine months into office and after voting against every serious attempt we’ve put forward to cut numbers, Starmer suddenly wants you to think he cares. Labour doesn’t believe in secure borders. You can’t trust them to protect ours."