Tag: Keir Starmer

The remarks made by Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, on 19 May 2025.

Ladies and gentlemen – Britain is back on the world stage.

Working with our partners. Doing deals that will grow our economy and putting more money in the pockets of working people.

In the last two weeks alone, we’ve delivered trade deals with India and the US. That means: jobs saved, jobs created, more growth and a huge vote of confidence in this country.

It shows that – as global instability is rising, the decisions we have taken to stabilise the economy and lead the way internationally have made Britain a place where people want to do business once again.

And from that position of strength – today we have struck this landmark deal with the EU – a new partnership between an independent Britain and our allies in Europe.

This is the first UK-EU summit, that marks a new stage in our relationship. And this deal, is a win-win. It delivers what the British public voted for last year.

It gives us unprecedented access to the EU market – the best of any country outside the EU or EFTA.

All while sticking to our red lines in our manifesto about. Not rejoining the single market, no rejoining the customs union and no return to freedom of movement.

This deal is good for both sides – and let me set out why it is good for Britain. We’ve struck an SPS deal to make food and agriculture trade with the EU cheaper and easier.

Slashing red tape and bureaucracy. That will mean lower food prices at the checkout.

More choice on our supermarket shelves – and more money in people’s pockets.

It will boost British exporters because, once again after a long absence, we’ll be able to sell great British burgers, shellfish and other products into the EU.

We’ve also struck a new Defence and Security Partnership to strengthen our cooperation and strengthen our security – which is vital in this dangerous new era.

And it will open the door to working with the EU’s new defence fund – providing new opportunities for our defence industry, supporting British jobs and livelihoods.

We are also increasing our co-operation on emissions trading. Saving UK businesses from having to pay £800 million in EU carbon taxes. Once again: supporting British businesses, backing British jobs.

Next, we are increasing our cooperation on energy to drive down bills in the long term.

The agreement negotiated by the last government left us with more disconnected with our closest neighbours despite being physically connected to the European grid by our undersea cables.

Today’s deal will see us work to bring these systems together again – benefitting bill payers and boosting our renewables industry in the North Sea.

Today’s deal is also good for British steel, protecting our steel exports from new EU tariffs. Saving the industry £25 million each year. Another example of this government backing our steel sector to the hilt.

We’ve reached a deal today on fish, protecting our access, rights and fishing areas with no increase in the amount that EU vessels can catch in British waters.

Our fishing industry will also benefit from the new SPS agreement which slashes costs and red tape for our exports into the European market. And we already sell 70% of our seafood into that market so it’s really significant. It is also opening the gates to sending shellfish back into the EU.

And I can announce today that we’re investing £360 million into our fishing industry – to help them take advantage of this deal.

We have acted today to strengthen our borders. The previous deal left a huge gap in our ability to work together to tackle illegal migration.

So this deal closes that gap so that we can work across the migration routes to end the migration crisis and smash the criminal gangs.

We are boosting our cooperation on law enforcement. Combating terrorism and serious organised crime with better sharing of intelligence and data – including facial imaging, for the first time.

Today’s deal will also help British holidaymakers as we are confirming that they will able to use e-Gates when they travel to Europe – ending those huge queues at passport control.

And I call on all EU members states to help make this a reality without delay.

Finally – we have agreed today cooperate on a youth experience scheme to allow our young people to travel and work freely in Europe. And I’m clear – this will come with all the appropriate time-limits, caps and visa requirements.

So – it’s a long list – and it just shows how much we have achieved here today – real benefits for the British people.

Because, it’s time to look forward. It’s time to move on from the stale old debates and political fights to focus on delivering common sense, practical solutions which get the best for the British people.

We’re ready to work with all our partners.

If it means we can improve people’s lives here at home.

And that’s what this deal is all about: facing out to the world once again in the great tradition of this nation. Building the relationships we choose, with the partners we choose and closing deals in the national interest.

The comments made by Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, on 12 May 2025.

[This text is from the civil service and so has the political text redacted]

Good morning.

Today, we publish a White Paper on immigration, a strategy that is absolutely central to my Plan for Change. This strategy will finally take back control of our borders and close the book on a squalid chapter for our politics, our economy, and our country.

“Take back control.” Everyone knows that slogan and what it meant for immigration, or at least that’s what people thought. Because what followed from the previous Government, starting with the people who used that slogan, was the complete opposite. Between 2019 and 2023, even as they were going around our country telling people, with a straight face, they would get immigration down, net migration quadrupled. Until in 2023, it reached nearly 1 million, which is about the population of Birmingham, our second largest city. That’s not control – it’s chaos.

And look, they must answer for themselves, but I don’t think you can do something like that by accident. It was a choice. A choice made even as they told you, told the country, they were doing the opposite. A one-nation experiment in open borders conducted on a country that voted for control. Well, no more. Today, this [political content redacted] 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.

And let me tell you why. Because I know, on a day like today, people who like politics will try to make this all about politics, about this or that strategy, targeting these voters, responding to that party. No. I am doing this because it is right, because it is fair, and because it is what I believe in.

Let me put it this way: Nations depend on rules – fair rules. Sometimes they’re written down, often they’re not, but either way, they give shape to our values. They guide us towards our rights, of course, but also our responsibilities, the obligations we owe to one another. Now, in a diverse nation like ours, and I celebrate that, these rules become even more important. Without them, we risk becoming an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together.

So when you have an immigration system that seems almost designed to permit abuse, that encourages some businesses to bring in lower-paid workers rather than invest in our young people, or simply one that is sold by politicians to the British people on an entirely false premise, then you’re not championing growth, you’re not championing justice, or however else people defend the status quo. You’re actually contributing to the forces that are slowly pulling our country apart.

So yes, I believe in this. I believe we need to reduce immigration significantly. That’s why some of the policies in this White Paper go back nearly three years, [political content redacted]. It’s about fairness.

Migration is part of Britain’s national story. We talked last week about the great rebuilding of this country after the war; migrants were part of that, and they make a massive contribution today. You will never hear me denigrate that. But when people come to our country, they should also commit to integration, to learning our language, and our system should actively distinguish between those that do and those that don’t. I think that’s fair.

Equally, Britain must compete for the best talent in the world in science, in technology, in healthcare. You cannot simply pull up a drawbridge, let nobody in, and think that is an economy that would work. That would hurt the pay packets of working people – without question. But at the same time, we do have to ask why parts of our economy seem almost addicted to importing cheap labour rather than investing in the skills of people who are here and want a good job in their community. Sectors like engineering, where visas have rocketed while apprenticeships have plummeted. Is that fair to Britain? Is it fair to young people weighing up their future to miss out on those apprenticeships, to see colleges in their community almost entirely dedicated to one-year courses for overseas students? No, I don’t think it is. And truth be told, I don’t think anyone does. And yet that is the Britain this broken system has created.

So, as this White Paper sets out, every area of the immigration system – work, family, and study – will be tightened up so we have more control. Skill requirements raised to degree level. English language requirements across all routes – including for dependents. The time it takes to acquire settled status extended from five years to ten. And enforcement tougher than ever because fair rules must be followed.

Now, make no mistake – this plan means migration will fall. That’s a promise. But I want to be very clear on this. If we do need to take further steps, if we do need to do more to release pressure on housing and our public services, then mark my words – we will. But it’s not just about numbers. Because the chaos of the previous government also changed the nature of immigration in this country. Fewer people who make a strong economic contribution, more who work in parts of our economy that put downward pressure on wages. So perhaps the biggest shift in this White Paper is that we will finally honour what “take back control” meant and begin to choose who comes here so that migration works for our national interest.

You know, this is where the whole debate is skewed, as if some people think controlling immigration is reigning in a sort of natural freedom rather than a basic and reasonable responsibility of government to make choices that work for a nation’s economy. For years, this seems to have muddled our thinking, but let me be clear – it ends now. We will create a migration system that is controlled, selective, and fair. A clean break with the past that links access to visas directly to investment in homegrown skills so that if a business wants to bring people in from abroad, they must first invest in Britain. But also, so settlement becomes a privilege that is earned, not a right, easier if you make a contribution, if you work, pay in, and help rebuild our country.

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. An immigration system that is fair, that works for our national interest, and that restores common sense and control to our borders. That is what this White Paper will deliver: lower net migration, higher skills, backing British workers, the start of repairing our social contract, which the chaos and cynicism of the last government did so much to undermine.

Thank you.

The remarks made by Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, on 22 April 2025.

Maro, it’s fantastic to see you up here and to hear you talk about the pride of pulling on an England jersey.

I think it’s something we’ve dreamt of doing all our lives, though I only got to pulling on a replica.

But it’s really important, that sense of pride that you described by the simple act of putting on a shirt, a sports shirt, and I think that pride and joy is hugely important.

And as for your reminder of St George I’ve got a few ideas about what we could feed the dragon.

But look it’s amazing just to look out and see so many people here, Tony Adams here in his red suit.

He won’t remember this, but Vic and I drove along the Cotswolds years ago and he was out for a walk and I screeched to halt and insisted on shaking his hand, so it’s great to see you again.

But it’s a really fantastic group of people and thank you so much for coming here to be in Downing Street with us.

This is where I work and live just upstairs but it’s also your building and I’m really keen to get across this sense that this isn’t just a remote place where the government is, but that we are here to serve our communities and serve our country.

So this is your place just as much as it is mine, it’s your right to be here and my privilege to invite you here as guests, so you are very welcome, to test and push us and to tell us what your ideas are and have the opportunity to put your fingerprints on everything we’re doing as a government.

And of course – as a proud Englishman, this is a particularly special occasion: St. George’s Day. And it’s the eve of the day to revel in all the wonder and joy of our country.

You see that reflected in this reception and I think it’s one of the biggest we’ve had here in Downing Street running all the way through to the rooms at the back with some fantastic people.

We’ve got Pimms, we’ve got English sparkling wine and we’ve got our brilliant showcases with Melton Mowbray pork pies, Lancashire Eccles cakes, Bakewell tarts and gin from Exmoor distillery. We were going to have Morris Dancers too at one point, but we’re saving them for the next Cabinet away day instead.

Because one of the great things about this country is we have so many wonderful traditions and so many individual, personal reasons that make us proud to be English.

For me – it always starts with football of course. I was there at Wembley in Euro 1996. I was there at Wembley in 2021 and I was there also last year when we went to Germany, where we came so close again.

But that still makes the nation proud. Though whatever it is, whether it’s football, festivals, cricket, Shakespeare – his birthday tomorrow of course, or our music – from Elgar to the Rolling Stones, our art – from Tracy Emin to Turner or our universities, inventions and innovations – the world’s first vaccine was an incredible moment, the world wide web, the computer and of course our landscape.

Everyone in this room will have their favourite spots. Whether it’s rocky coves and beaches in Cornwall or the incomparable beauty of the Lake District.

My late mum struggled to walk, so she decided to have all her holidays in the Lake District where the only thing you can do is walk, but that summed her up.

And we still go there with our children now. But you also have the Chalk Hills of the North Downs where I grew up: this is a beautiful country, rich with pride, potential and creativity.

It’s also a country where a person like me who grew up working class and a person like the previous occupant, Rishi Sunak, an English Hindu, can both become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. That for me is something I think we should always be proud of and never take for granted.

Because, while this is a day for celebration, we cannot be under any illusions that there is a never-ending fight for our flag and what it represents. I’ll put it this way, when I was standing in the old Wembley in 1996 – not many people sat down that day, it felt like that whole tournament embodied the best of our country.

Yet now – there are people trying to sow division in our communities, people taking the red and white of our flag, like the bunting downstairs, with them, as they throw bricks at businesses…

The day after the terrible Southport incident last year, I went up to take the opportunity to shake the hands of the first respondents of police and ambulance workers, you’ll now have seen what they all faced.

As I simply said thank you, almost all said to me they were just doing their job, but of course they weren’t, and it’s just incredible to think about what they were doing, and they were all back in work the next day to help clear up.

By the time I got back to London that very day, we had people throwing bricks at the very same police officers I was shaking hands with.

And that’s why the battle for our flag is really important because that is what happened and that was only last year. So, we have to fight for our flag and for our values.

Because it was the aftermath of the riots that showed what it means to be English. It marked the coming together of a country.

People who got together the morning after, all across Britain with shovels, brooms, and brushes, to clean up their communities. Rebuilding walls, repairing damage and it’s in that spirit that we reclaim our flag and that was incredibly uplifting to go from rioting to people coming out to do what they could for our country.

So that’s what we must do for our country, for English decency, honour and fairness. Wrench it out of the hands of those who want to divide this nation and reclaim it for good.

Because that flag doesn’t belong to me as Prime Minister or any group or political party and that is the point.

It belongs to all of us to England, in all its wonder and diversity. And we should be proud of that flag, we must never concede it, because it is an expression of our values and our patriotism.

And patriotism – for me is about serving the country we love. That’s what drove me when I was Chief Prosecutor, serving people who’d faced appalling crimes and injustice. People like John and Penny Clough who are with us today – they lost their daughter in an appalling crime and came to see me many years ago in their journey for justice and have become friends of mine.

And it’s what drives me today – when I say I want to make working people’s lives better.

It’s at the heart of this Government, what’s written through our Plan for Change: putting money in people’s pockets; getting public services back on their feet so they serve the public in the way that people deserve; making our streets safer so we can all enjoy our communities; building the homes working people need, which are an aspiration and opportunity for so many; breaking down barriers to opportunity and honouring Britain’s veterans – by making sure there are “homes for heroes”.

As we also protect our national security with the biggest defence investment since the end of the Cold War.

We know this won’t be easy and we’re living through a time of uncertainty which I’m sure everyone in this room can feel that over the past six months. Whether that’s through defence, national security or the global economy.

But moments like this, as we come together to celebrate St. George’s Day are a reminder of all our nation has been through over generations and the values that have endured.

The creativity, resilience and good will and humour that have remained a constant through the ages and will endure for generations to come.

So, let’s be proud of our national identity, let’s pay tribute to all those who keep our country going from the generations who laid down their lives to keep us free, to those serving our country today. Our armed forces, our NHS staff, our teachers and the small businesses who serve their community.

Let’s remember our shared history, our shared inheritance and the values that have endured. And most of all, let’s hear it for England and for St. George! Thank you very much.