British Prime Minister Keir Starmer increased English language standards in the United Kingdom on Monday, saying future immigrants there “should speak English” and that it’s “common sense” for them to do so.
Starmer is raising the requirements in concert with an immigration crackdown across the country to end what he called its “failed experiment in open borders.”
“If you want to live in the UK, you should speak English,” he wrote in a post on X. “That’s common sense. So we’re raising English language requirements across every main immigration route.”
Starmer’s immigration plan cites studies indicating that those without English proficiency have a harder time getting a job in the country, particularly jobs deemed “high skill.” As of 2021, 37% of English speakers in the country have high-skill jobs, while only 4% of those who cannot speak the language or cannot speak it well have high-skill positions.
There are already English requirements imposed on immigrants but the new ones address “a broader range of immigration routes, for both main applicants and their dependants, to ensure better knowledge of English, including an assessment of improvements over time.”
The report says a lack of English language skills risks “isolation” and “poor integration.”
Labour Party Member of Parliament Zarah Sultana shamed Starmer for his “anti-migrant rhetoric,” claiming some of his words were a reference to former Conservative MP Enoch Powell’s divisive speech.
“The Prime Minister imitating Enoch Powell’s ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech is sickening,” she said in a post to X. “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.”
On the other side of the political spectrum, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) appeared to applaud the move. “Starmer wants to Make Great Britain English Again,” Lee said in a post on X.
The immigration crackdown is a change from the Labour Party’s past. The party had been friendly to migrants in recent years, but the anti-immigration Reform Party is surging in polls as the Labour Party grows unpopular.
The country had 906,000 migrants enter in fiscal 2023 and 728,000 in 2024.
Starmer blasted the Conservative Party for the rise in migration as he released his immigration plan.
“A one-nation experiment in open borders conducted on a country that voted for control,” he said. “Well, no more. Today, this Government is shutting down the lab. The experiment is over. We will deliver what you have asked for – time and again – and we will take back control of our borders.”
Starmer also plans to double the time it takes for immigrants to qualify for citizenship or for the permanent right to stay from 5 to 10 years. Skilled worker visas will now require a university degree, and any added immigration will depend on labor shortages.
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The British prime minister acknowledged that the plan is not for everyone.
“Now, some people may even be against that, but I think for the vast majority of people in this country, that is what they have long wanted to see,” he said. “An immigration system that is fair, that works for our national interest, and that restores common sense and control to our borders.”