Keir Starmer says “read my lips – I will cut immigration” and vows to crack down on foreign visas and train more Brits
SIR Keir Starmer today unveils a manifesto promise to cut the number of immigrants coming to Britain.
The Labour leader made the landmark pledge in an exclusive interview with The Sun on Sunday.
Announcing a double lock pledge to curb numbers, he said Labour will pass laws to crack down on “bad bosses” hiring foreigners and train more Brits.
Net migration hit 685,000 last year – the second highest in British history.
Sir Keir told The Sun on Sunday: “Read my lips – I will bring immigration numbers down.
“If you trust me with the keys to No10 I will make you this promise: I will control our borders and make sure British businesses are helped to hire Brits first.”
He added: “This is a changed Labour Party back in the service of working people.
“That means not just talking about sky high migration but acting on it.”
The Sun on Sunday can reveal that the Labour Party will bring in two big legal changes to get migration down.
Bad bosses who break employment law – for example by failing to pay staff the minimum wage – will be banned from hiring workers from abroad.
Training will also be linked to immigration so sectors applying for foreign worker visas must skill Brits to do the jobs.
This will also help bring down Britain’s bloated benefits bill, Sir Keir added.
It is the first time the Labour leader has publicly committed to curbing immigration if he becomes PM.
His remarks – his hardest hitting ever on immigration – parks Labour tanks firmly on Tory lawns.
Sir Keir refused to say what he would cut migrant numbers to, or by when.
Instead he took aim at Tory PMs from David Cameron onwards for promising but failing to cut numbers.
Speaking as he visited a dock on the outskirts of Glasgow, Sir Keir said: “I’m not going to duck the challenge.
“It’s got to come down.”
Setting out his stall, he added: “The 685,000 migration number – it’s the second highest on record.
“We are near Glasgow and that’s more than the entire city of Glasgow.
“The Conservatives repeatedly say they are going to cut these numbers. They have never done it. They have completely failed.
“They have never had a strategy to deal with it.”
He said bosses have become “too reliant” on foreign workers and must be weaned off immigration.
Adding: “You should always have a choice of recruiting a British worker first.”
Sir Keir said passing laws to curb sky-high immigration will be a top priority for this government.
At the centre of their strategy will be legislating to link the immigration system to training.
When businesses ask for foreign work visas to be doled out it will automatically trigger a plan to skill Brits in those trades.
This will be done by bringing together the Migration Advisory Committee, Industrial Strategy Council and Skills England.
Alongside this will be a tougher approach to “bad bosses” who flout employment law by underpaying British workers or breaking health and safety regulations.
Employers who do this will be banned from hiring overseas workers.
In a direct warning to these dodgy bosses, Sir Keir said: “If you undercut, if you don’t do the right thing, then we’re not going to slap you on the wrist. We are not going to fine you.
“We are going to ban you.”
Sir Keir’s remarks risk kicking off a war with the leftwing of his party.
They show that despite being over 20 points ahead in the polls, Labour are worried their old reputation for being soft on borders could harm them at the ballot box.
The bombshell intervention comes as the election campaign stepped up a gear with the launch of the Tory and Labour battle buses.
If the polls are to be believed, Sir Keir will be the first Labour leader since Tony Blair to win a general election.
Sir Keir, 61, has been accused by some of being a “copycat Blair” – hiring his old staff, wrapping himself in the flag like the Blairites did and even adopting the same look by rolling up his shirt sleeves.
But on immigration he is adopting a very different tone.
So does he think Tony was wrong to not be tougher on borders?
“Circumstances have changed – that was a different era”, he says, tactfully.
“I think – whether it is on immigration or more generally – security is a much greater concern for everyone.”
In a wide-ranging interview, the Labour leader repeated his pledge not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT.
But he refused to rule out introducing new green levies on bills.
“What I can guarantee is this – we recognise this shouldn’t disproportionately impact people, particularly people who don’t have a lot of money”, he said.
“I’m not in an instant going to say there I’ll be no such thing as a levy ever again.”
Sir Keir has another four and half weeks on the road before election day on July 4.
Labour are so worried about throwing away their poll lead that staffers have been banned from saying the word “win” in case it breeds complacency.
A few months ago Sir Keir had dinner with his hero – former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.
“He is a great man who fundamentally changed football”, Sir Keir says, flashing a grin.
Under Wenger, Arsenal famously went undefeated in the 2003-2004 Premier League season – earning them the nickname ‘The Invincibles.’
Will Sir Keir manage the same and clinch the race for No10?
Or will Labour concede one too many and see victory snatched away?
More babies under Labour? Keir Starmer says Brits will be able to settle down and have kids under his economic plans
BRITS will be able to have more babies under Labour, Sir Keir Starmer has suggested.
Couples have chosen to have fewer children or not start families at all because of the cost of living crisis, the Labour leader warned.
Sir Keir said that if he is elected PM he will turn the economy around – giving Brits the chance to start planning for families sooner.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun on Sunday, Sir Keir said: “Not being able to get on the housing ladder until you are in your late 30s is shocking.
“Having a roof over your head really matters.
“I spoke to a family in Wolverhampton who were going to have another child, but because Liz Truss crashed the economy their mortgage went through the roof and they decided not to have a second child.
“That’s why people are so angry.”
Asked if this means Brits will have more babies if Labour win the election next month, he said: “Well, people able to plan their lives.
“To be able to have a family and have a house and move to a bigger house when you have a bigger family is part of ordinary working class aspiration that I fundamentally believe in, and the stock from which I came.”
Women in the UK are having fewer children today than at any point since records began in 1939, official stats show.
On average,’women are having 1.49 children each, the Office for National Statistics found.
Women are also waiting longer to have children.
SIR Keir Starmer accused the Tories of “hollowing out” our Armed Forces - but refused to match their military spending pledge.
He spoke out after British Army troop numbers shrank to below 73,000 for the first time ever.
PM Rishi Sunak has vowed to get defence spending up to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2030 if the Tories win the election.
Sir Keir failed to match the pledge – saying he will hit 2.% per cent too but only when it is affordable.
He said: “I won’t take lessons from the government. They are the ones who have hollowed out the Army.
“We have the lowest Army now since Napoleonic times. Their record on this is appalling.”
Labour will carry out a strategic defenece review on the first year if they get into No10, he said.
Sir Keir denied he was being unpatriotic by having a go at the Tory plan to bring back compulsory national service for all 18 year-olds.
“I’ve got nothing against a sense of national pride. I’ve got nothing against young people being committed to volunteering”, he said.
“I’m totally against an un-thought out plan.”
“If the military says it’s bonkers it’s not going to work it’s going to drain our resources, it’s not a good idea.”