LONDON (AP) — On Monday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer promised to reduce immigration and make it more difficult for people to live in the U.K. permanently. He is dealing with a problem that has caused trouble for many governments and has helped a new party that is against immigration become more powerful. This new party might challenge the country's current political system.

Starmer, whose Labour Party won by a large amount last July, is facing pressure from voters who are unhappy about high levels of immigration. Many voters think this has put a strain on public services and caused ethnic tensions in some parts of the country.

Starmer said he would stop "Britain's unsuccessful try with open borders," soon after Reform UK, a far-right party led by Nigel Farage, won many local elections. The Labour and Conservative parties, who were the main parties in British politics for a long time, both lost a lot of support in the local elections for councils and mayors.

"We will make every part of the immigration system, like work, family, and study, stricter so we have more control," Starmer said. "We will create a system that is controlled, chooses carefully who can come, and is fair."

Immigration has been a major topic in Britain for many years, particularly since 2004 when more countries joined the European Union. Although most EU countries limited people coming from these new countries for a few years, the UK quickly allowed them to come and work.

In 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron promised to lower the number of people coming to the UK each year to less than 100,000. Four Conservative governments tried but failed to reach this goal. In 2016, many people were angry because the government could not control immigration from EU countries. This anger was a main reason why Britain voted to leave the European Union.

However, leaving the EU did not lower the number of people who came into the country with visas for work, study, and family. The number of people arriving minus those leaving, known as net migration, was more than 900,000 in the year to June 2023, based on official numbers. This was almost four times higher than before leaving the EU. This large increase was partly because many people were escaping the war in Ukraine and the government's actions in Hong Kong. Net immigration then decreased to 728,000 in the year to June 2024.

Recently, many people have worried that the government cannot control Britain's borders because they see thousands of migrants coming to the UK in small, unsafe boats used by people who help them cross. About 37,000 people came across the sea in these small boats last year.

Starmer has said he will lower that number by stopping the criminal groups who plan these trips.

Now he has also promised to reduce legal immigration a lot, without saying exactly how much. He plans to do this by giving fewer visas for jobs that don't need special skills, making people earn more money to get a work visa, and requiring immigrants to speak better 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 that past Conservative governments had let many people come into the country easily. He described this as "an experiment with open borders in a country that voted for more control." He finished by saying, "This will stop now."

The government announced plans on Monday to greatly reduce the number of visas for people wanting low-skilled jobs and stop care homes from hiring workers from other countries. These jobs are important but usually don't pay well. The government stated it would make working conditions better to encourage British people to do these jobs, but didn't explain how.

Martin Green, the leader of Care England, said hiring people from other countries was very important for the care sector.

"Taking it away now, without warning, money, or another choice, is not just a bad idea – it's cruel," he said.

Starmer said some parts of the British economy depended too much on cheap foreign workers. He also said the government would spend more on training for British workers.

Under the new rules, most immigrants must live in the UK for 10 years to become citizens, instead of the five years it is now. But people who help society and fit in well will not have to wait as long.

Starmer said that "people coming to Britain is part of our country's history," but that without clear rules, "we could become an island of strangers, instead of a nation that moves forward together."

Some refugee groups and Labour politicians were unhappy with Starmer's words, especially when he said that a lot of migration had caused "huge damage" to British society. Labour politician Sarah Owen wrote online that trying to follow the ideas of the right-wing could lead the country into a bad situation.

Chris Philp, a Conservative politician who talks about immigration, said Labour's plans are not good enough.

He said the public wants large-scale immigration to stop, and he asked Parliament to set a strict yearly limit on it.