Starmer's immigration plans are 'hot air' that won't make 'meaningful difference', slams Braverman

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By Ella Bennett

Suella Braverman has slammed Sir Keir Starmer's plans to tackle immigration issues as "hot air" that will not make "a meaningful difference to the unprecedented levels of migration".

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The former Home Secretary said the latest measures were "opportunistic", after Labour had "appalling" results in the local elections while Reform UK, who is strong on immigration, were leading the polls.

Speaking to LBC's Ben Kentish, she said: "Superficially, Keir Starmer is making the kind of noises that I want a Prime Minister to be making in the face of a migration crisis, both relating to legal and illegal migration.

"But scrape underneath the surface of his words and it amounts to hot air, because if you look at the measures that he's announced, even taking them generously, they're not really going to make a meaningful difference to the unprecedented levels of migration that this country is currently facing."

Ben challenged Ms Braverman saying Labour's policies go further than her own former Tory government's did. Ms Braverman said when she was Home Secretary two years ago she was up against "an unsympathetic cabinet".

She added: "I managed to secure some changes in the May of 2023 and as a result we were able to see a decrease in the numbers - for example,  we made it harder for people to bring dependents if they were foreign students.

"But the reality is, yes, my government should have gone much further, as I would have liked them to have done, and this government should be going much further.

"Instead of reducing the graduate visa route from two years to 18 months, really, the government should be either scrapping it or only allowing foreign students a couple of months, really maximum six months to stay in the uk."

Read more: Immigration: What is Keir Starmer looking to do?

Read more: Immigration shake-up announced as PM vows 'every area' of system will be 'tightened up'

Watch Again: Suella Braverman joins Ben Kentish

Ms Braverman went on to blame a "lack of political will" for her government's lack of action, and said her colleagues were more focused on stopping the boats.

She also blamed what she called "the reign of the OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility)". She said: "The OBR's orthodox view was very much that more immigration into the country is a good thing for the economy."

She added: "That was totally flawed in my view. And I had this argument with the OBR and with the treasury."

Ben challenged Ms Braverman on the impact some of there policies could have on industries reliant on overseas workers, such as the care sector.

She rejected the idea, saying: "We obviously need people to work in our care sector. We've got millions of people who would be perfectly able to do that already in the country.

"Currently, many of those people are claiming welfare and if we made these jobs pay more, you would suddenly see an increase in the number of people taking up these jobs."

She added: "If these jobs paid and if welfare wasn't so easy to claim in some instances, then people would do these jobs. People ultimately do want to work. I believe that is my conservative philosophy. I think work is the best way out of poverty.

"It's the best way to realise aspiration. It's one of the best remedies for mental health, some mental health problems, and it is obviously the way to develop yourself and your skills. And I think if we make work pay, if we make it our welfare system more rigorous, we won't need to rely on such a large pool of foreign."

Sir Keir said high net migration figures had caused “incalculable” damage to British society as he set out a series of measures aimed at reducing the number of people coming to the UK today.

The Prime Minister, who said the country risks becoming an “island of strangers” without better integration, said he wanted net migration to have fallen “significantly” by the next general election – but refused to set a target number.

The plan, which includes changes to the way human rights laws are applied, is aimed at making the immigration system “controlled, selective and fair”, Sir Keir said.

Net migration – the number of people arriving in the UK minus those leaving – stood at 728,000 in the year to mid-2024, down from the peak of 906,000 the previous year.

In a White Paper setting out the proposals, Sir Keir hit out at the Conservatives for running a “one-nation experiment in open borders” because “the damage it has done to our country is incalculable”.

That included pressure on housing, public services and the economy, where there were perverse incentives to hire foreign workers.

He addressed the nation in a Downing Street press conference, insisting the plan was not motivated by a desire to take on Reform and the Tories but “because it is right, because it is fair and because it is what I believe in”.

He said “fair rules” shaped a country’s values and people’s rights, responsibilities and obligations, adding: “In a diverse nation like ours – and I celebrate that – these rules become even more important.

“Without them, we risk becoming an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together.”

The White Paper is aimed at reducing numbers, clamping down on abuses of the system and ending a reliance on cheap foreign labour.

Home Office estimates indicate that changes from the plan could reduce the number of people coming to the UK by up to 100,000 per year, when looking at eight of its proposals including on study and work routes and a higher level of English language requirement.

Sir Keir dismissed concerns that reducing immigration would hit the economy, saying the theory that higher numbers produced growth had been tested in the last four years, with “stagnant growth” despite the levels of net migration.