BRITISH PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer has unveiled sweeping changes to the immigration system in the UK and promised to “take back control” of the country’s borders, echoing the rhetoric of pro-Brexit campaigners and anti-immigration parties. 

Starmer said that without “fair rules”, the UK risks “becoming an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together”.

But his anti-immigration speech has been condemned by politicians on the left, with one MP asking: “Did Nigel Farage write this speech?” 

Farage is the leader of the right-wing populist party Reform UK, which is defined by its anti-immigration stance. Reform is currently the most popular party in the UK. 

In his speech today, Starmer accused politicians on the right of not fulfilling their promise to “take back control” of immigration.

Blaming migrants for a housing crisis and failing public services lets the real culprits off the hook: landlordism, chronic underinvestment and deepening inequality. Labour was elected to tackle those, not parrot Reform’s scapegoating, which will never improve people's lives.

— Nadia Whittome MP (@nadiawhittomemp.bsky.social) May 12, 2025 at 1:26 PM

“Everyone knows that slogan and what it meant for immigration, or at least that’s what people thought,” Starmer said.

“Because what followed from the previous Government, starting with the people who used that slogan, was the complete opposite.”

He said that under the last Conservative government, “net migration quadrupled”.

“Until in 2023, it reached nearly 1 million, which is about the population of Birmingham, our second largest city. That’s not control – it’s chaos,” he said.

Starmer said the changes to the UK’s immigration system would affect “every area of the immigration system – work, family, and study – will be tightened up so we have more control”.

The changes include raising the skill requirement for people moving to the UK to degree level. 

There will also be more stringent requirements that people speak English, including children.

The time it takes to acquire settled status will be extended from five years to ten.

Starmer also said enforcement would be “tougher than ever because fair rules must be followed”.

‘Rivers of blood’ 

Labour MP Zarah Sultana, who had the whip removed last year after she voted against the government on the issue of child benefits, posted on social media likening Starmer’s speech to an infamous one made by a Conservative MP in 1968. 

She is among a number of Labour MPs to publicly condemn her party leader’s speech. 

“The Prime Minister imitating Enoch Powell’s ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech is sickening,” Sultana wrote. 

“That speech fuelled decades of racism and division. Echoing it today is a disgrace. It adds to anti-migrant rhetoric that puts lives at risk. Shame on you, Keir Starmer.” 

In another post, Sultana called Starmer’s words “dehumanising and divisive” and asked “Did Nigel Farage write this speech?” 

Starmer's Britain. Not even subtle.

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— Zack Polanski (@zackpolanski.bsky.social) May 12, 2025 at 3:04 PM

Zack Polanski, who is vying to become the leader of the Green Party in the UK, also likened Starmer’s “island of strangers” line to the speech made by Enoch Powell. 

Labour MP Nadia Whittome also joined those condemning Starmer’s speech, saying: “The step-up in anti-migrant rhetoric from the government is shameful and dangerous.”

“Migrants are our neighbours, friends and family. To suggest that Britain risks becoming ‘an island of strangers’ because of immigration mimics the scaremongering of the far-right.”

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “The 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.”