KEIR Starmer's immigration crackdown has come straight "from Nigel Farage's playbook" and shows he "doesn't care" about Scotland, SNP and Green politicians have said.
In a Downing Street speech, the Prime Minister said that the UK risks becoming an “island of strangers” without controls on immigration.
He added Labour Government would “take back control of our borders” and close the book on a “squalid chapter” for politics and the economy.
Ministers are looking to bring down net migration figures, which stood at 728,000 in the year to mid-2024.
Starmer said on Monday he wanted levels to have fallen significantly by the end of the Parliament, without setting a numerical target.
Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice said Starmer has been “listening and learning” from his party as he announced white paper proposals including migrants having to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship.
Maggie Chapman, the Scottish Greens justice spokesperson, accused Starmer of “throwing migrant workers under the bus” as she called for Scotland to have powers over immigration.
“It is staggering to think that Keir Starmer was once a human rights lawyer, because this whole speech has been ripped right out of Nigel Farage’s playbook,” she said.
“The UK Government has the power to improve wages and conditions in workplaces across our country any time that it wants to, but Labour is refusing to do this, instead choosing to scapegoat and blame migrant communities, outdoing the Tories.
“It is a cynical, cruel and authoritarian response to Reform. It will only serve to damage public services while throwing migrant workers under the bus with racist, restrictive and totally self-defeating policies.
“You don’t beat the far right by pandering to them, but Labour seems determined to test this to destruction.
“It is time for Scotland to have powers over immigration so that we can build a system that welcomes and respects migrants and supports our services rather than undermining them.”
Veteran SNP MP Pete Wishart (below) said Starmer’s announcement was not in Scotland’s interest, adding such plans show he “does not care” about the nation.
Wishart added Starmer is using “the language of Reform/leavers”.
Under the proposals, 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.
Elsewhere, skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.
Echoing the slogan used by Brexit campaigners during the 2016 EU referendum, Starmer said: “We will deliver what you’ve asked for time and again, and we will take back control of our borders.”
The announcement comes less than a fortnight after Reform UK surged to victory in local council elections across England.
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.
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) May 12, 2025
Laura Mitchell, the SNP’s candidate for Moray at the Holyrood elections, said Starmer’s language in his speech was “appalling”.
“To try to evoke fear of the “stranger” makes him nothing more than a pound shop Farage. Shameful, spineless, and short-sighted,” she said on social media.
Ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn added: “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.”
Ex-Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard also said in reaction to the speech that it is important to keep challenging those who speak about immigration negatively.
"We have to keep challenging, not just Nigel Farage and his groundless claims that British culture is directly under threat from immigration, but those others as well who peddle the idea that migration is a negative, that it should be reduced, that it is a problem," he said.
"We have to keep taking on the argument and that means defending, resisting, speaking out and standing up for the rights of migrant workers, on our farms, in our service economy, in the factories, and across our public services."
