Tories to toughen stance on migration after heavy election defeats, accusing Labour and Reform of ‘empty slogans’
7 May 2025, 00:03 | Updated: 7 May 2025, 13:06
The Conservatives will publish a proposed law setting out hardened measures on immigration as the party accuses Labour and Reform of being "complicit in the trade of empty slogans".
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Automatic deportation for people who enter Britain via unauthorised routes and powers to revoke indefinite leave to remain for those deemed to be a "burden" to the UK are among the policies being put forward by the Tories.
It comes as the party seeks to win back voters after suffering a drubbing at the local elections last week, losing more than 600 councillors along with control of all 15 local authorities.
The Tories said their new Bill sets out a clear vision for border control, with measures including:
- Disapplying the Human Rights Act from all immigration-related matters, which the party says is necessary to stop foreign nationals "exploiting" the courts.
- Extending the waiting period for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) from five to 10 years.
- New powers to revoke ILR for people deemed to have become a "burden" to the UK, for example those who rely on benefits or are on low incomes.
- A "legally binding" number - yet to be specified by the party - at which migration would be capped and to be voted on in Parliament.
- Tighter visa rules for partners and civil partners, with higher thresholds and evidence of genuine relationships, and a ban on visas in cases of first-cousin marriage.
- Mandatory scientific age testing for asylum seekers.
- Removing GDPR protections from foreign criminals and irregular migrants.
- Powers to deport all foreign criminals, rather than only those who have received a prison sentence of at least one year.
- Visa sanctions for "uncooperative" countries if they refuse to take back their citizens.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the Labour Government had for months turned a "blind eye" to rising numbers of small boat crossings in the Channel.
Shelagh responds to caller who thinks the UK should be tougher on border control
"The Conservatives are today introducing the Deportation Bill - a bold, pragmatic and deliverable plan to take back control of our borders and restore public confidence in our immigration system," he said.
"If Labour can't or won't act, we will an introduce a Bill and Labour MPs can vote against it.
"Labour and Reform are both complicit in the trade of empty slogans and hollow promises. Our plan can be enacted now to get immigration back under control."
Many of the Conservatives' losses at the May 1 polls came at the hands of Nigel Farage's Reform UK, which won more than 600 council seats and took control of 10 local authorities.
The party also found itself squeezed by the Liberal Democrats, who made gains in counties such as Oxfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Shropshire.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has said the Conservatives would "come out fighting" to try to regain public support, but also that they would not rush policy proposals.
But the party said its new Bill would spell out "what a serious, credible immigration policy looks like - and proves the Conservative Party, under new leadership, is ready to govern with strength and principle".
Read more: Trump doubles down on Canada becoming 51st state as Carney tells him: 'We're not for sale'
Some 11,516 migrants have crossed the Channel - up 34% on this point last year and 83% on the same time period in 2023, according to PA news agency analysis of the data.
A Labour source said the Tories had 14 years in office to enact any of the "rehashed and half-baked" policies in their Bill, and instead had left the asylum system in a "chaotic mess".
"On their watch, removal of those with no right to be here plummeted by 30%. They blew a £5 billion blackhole in the Home Office, with the cost of asylum hotels hitting almost £9 million a day at its peak," they said.
"(The) Labour Government is getting a grip, increasing returns by over 20%, introducing new legislation to give law enforcement agencies counter terror style powers to go after those profiting from small boat crossings and cracking down on employers exploiting migrant labour, with illegal working raids increasing by 40% since July."
