Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Thursday put net migration at more than 900,000 in the year to June 2023, numbers Starmer blamed on the previous Conservative government.
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00:00British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said the government will overhaul the immigration
00:06system after new data showed arrivals to the country had hit a record high. Figures released
00:11by the Office for National Statistics put net migration at more than 900,000 in the
00:17year to June 2023. Starmer blamed those numbers on the previous Conservative government.
00:24Because a failure on this scale isn't just bad luck. It isn't a global trend or taking
00:32your eye off the ball. No, this is a different order of failure. This happened by design,
00:40not accident. Policies were reformed deliberately to liberalise immigration. Brexit was used
00:49for that purpose, to turn Britain into a one-nation experiment in open borders. Starmer said his
00:57government plans to overhaul the points-based immigration system brought in by the Conservatives
01:03in 2021 after Brexit. That system gives applicants points for specific skills and qualifications
01:10and those who don't meet the threshold aren't granted a visa. Immigration is a divisive
01:15topic in the UK, with many voters concerned about the strain on public services caused
01:20by a large influx of people. But some sectors, including healthcare, argue they'd be unable
01:26to function without staff brought in from abroad.