Starmer plans to replace automatic refugee settlement rights with contribution-based criteria.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has unveiled plans to overhaul the UK’s asylum system, saying it currently grants refugees more rights than British citizens and legal migrants.
Under existing rules, refugees receive permanent settlement after five years and can immediately bring family members. Starmer called the policy “not fit for purpose,” arguing that “settlement must be earned by contributing to our country, not by paying a people-smuggler to cross the channel in a boat.”
The proposed reforms will require refugees to meet the same conditions as other foreign nationals, including income thresholds, English language requirements, clean criminal records and community service. Application fees for indefinite leave to remain will also apply.
Family reunification will be delayed by at least two years and granted only after financial criteria are met.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp dismissed the plan as “another gimmick from a government that has lost control of our borders.”