LONDON (AP) — Britain's leader, Keir Starmer, promised on Monday to lower the number of immigrants and make it more difficult for people to live permanently in the U.K. He is addressing a problem that has caused trouble for many governments and helped a new party that is against immigration become stronger. This new party could be a danger to the traditional political system in the country.

Starmer, whose center-left Labour Party won a big victory last July, is facing pressure from voters who are increasingly unhappy about the high number of immigrants. Many people think this has put pressure on public services and caused problems between different ethnic groups in some parts of the country.

Starmer said he would stop "Britain's failed experiment with open borders" shortly after Reform UK, a far-right party led by Nigel Farage, did very well in local elections. Labour and the center-right Conservatives, who have been the main parties in British politics for a long time, both lost a lot of support in the elections for local councils and mayors.

Starmer said in a speech on Downing Street that they will make the immigration system stricter in all areas – for work, families, and students – to have more control. He added that their system will be controlled, careful about who comes in, and fair.

Immigration has been a big topic in Britain for many years, especially since 2004, when more countries joined the European Union in Eastern Europe. Most EU countries stopped people from the new countries coming for a few years, but the UK quickly allowed them to come and work.

In 2010, the Prime Minister, David Cameron, promised to lower the number of people moving to the UK each year to less than 100,000. But four Conservative governments could not reach this goal. In 2016, many people were unhappy because the government couldn't control immigration from the EU. This was a main reason why Britain voted to leave the EU.

However, Brexit did not reduce the number of people coming into the country with visas for work, study, and to join their families.

Recently, people have become more worried that the government is not controlling Britain's borders. This is because thousands of migrants have been seen coming to the U.K. in small, unsafe boats used by people who help them enter the country illegally. Last year, around 37,000 people crossed the English Channel in small boats.

Starmer has promised to reduce that number by stopping the criminal groups who arrange the journeys.

Now he has also promised to greatly reduce the number of people who can legally move to the country to work. He plans to do this by giving fewer visas for jobs that don't need special skills, asking for higher salaries for work visas, and requiring migrants to have a better level of English.

Starmer used the same words as the campaign that wanted Britain to leave the EU, which he was against before. He said his government would 'take back control' of Britain's borders.

He said past Conservative governments allowed open borders, even though the country voted for control. He said this will stop now.

Government plans published Monday promise to significantly reduce the number of visas for jobs that do not require high skills. They also plan to stop allowing care homes to hire workers from other countries. The government stated that they would make these jobs better paid and more attractive to British workers, but did not explain how.

Martin Green, who is in charge of Care England, said that hiring people from other countries is very important for their industry.

He said that taking it away now, without warning, money, or another choice, is not just a bad idea, it is also cruel.

Starmer said that some parts of the British economy relied too much on cheap workers from other countries. He added that the government would put more money into training schemes and apprenticeships for British people.

Under the new rules, most immigrants will need to live in the UK for 10 years, instead of the current five, to become citizens. However, some people may become citizens sooner if they contribute to society and become part of the community.

Starmer said that people moving to Britain is part of its history. However, he added that without clear rules, people might feel like strangers, and the country might not move forward together.

Groups helping refugees and some Labour politicians were not happy with what Starmer said. He claimed that many immigrants had caused "huge damage" to British society. Labour politician Sarah Owen wrote online that "if we follow the ideas of the right, our country could go in a dangerous direction."

Chris Philp, the Conservative politician who speaks about immigration, said that Labour's ideas are not strong enough.

He said the public correctly wants to stop large numbers of people coming to the country. He also said that Parliament should decide and set a limit on immigration each year.