LONDON (AP) — Keir Starmer, the leader of Britain, said Monday he wants to reduce the number of people coming to the U.K. to live and work.

Keir Starmer's party won a big election last year. Now some people are angry because many immigrants are coming to the country. They think this makes it hard for public services and causes problems between different groups in some areas.

Starmer said he would stop open borders in Britain. This happened after the Reform UK party, led by Nigel Farage, won many votes in local elections. The Labour and Conservative parties, who were usually the main parties in Britain, lost a lot of support in these elections for local councils and mayors.

Starmer said that rules for people coming to the country to work, live with family, or study will be made stronger. He said this is so they can have more control. He also said they will make a system that is controlled, chooses carefully, and is fair.

Immigration has been an important topic in Britain for many years, especially since 2004 when more countries in Eastern Europe joined the European Union. Most EU countries did not allow people from these new countries to come easily for some years, but the UK immediately allowed them to come and work.

The government wanted fewer people to come to the UK each year, but they could not do it. Many people were angry about this, and it was a main reason why Britain voted to leave the EU.

But Brexit did not stop many people from coming to the country to work, study, or be with their families. More people came to the UK than left. By June 2023, this number was 900,000, which was much higher than before Brexit. Many people came because of the war in Ukraine and problems in Hong Kong. By June 2024, fewer people came to the country, with 728,000 more people coming than leaving.

Many people worry that the government does not control who comes into Britain. They see thousands of people arriving in small boats. Last year, about 37,000 people crossed the sea in these boats.

Starmer wants to make that number smaller by stopping the bad groups who plan these trips.

He also wants fewer people to come and live and work legally in the country. He will give fewer visas for jobs that don't need many skills. He also wants people to earn more money to get a work visa, and he wants people who move there to be better at English.

Starmer used words from the Brexit campaign, which he was against before. He said his government would control Britain's borders again.

He said that in the past, Conservative governments allowed many people to enter the country without strict rules. But the country voted to have more control over who comes in. He said this will not happen anymore.

The government has new plans to give fewer visas for jobs that don't need special skills. They also want to stop people from other countries working in care homes. The government said they will make these jobs better so people in Britain want to do them, but they didn't say how.

Martin Green, the head of Care England, said that getting workers from other countries is very important for the care industry.

He said that taking it away now, without telling anyone and with no other choice, is not just a bad idea – it's very unfair.

Starmer said some parts of the UK economy used cheap workers from other countries too much. He said the government would spend more money to train young people and help people in the UK learn skills for jobs.

With the new rules, most people from other countries must live in the U.K. for 10 years to become citizens. Before, it was five years. But people who help society and fit in well might not have to wait as long.

Starmer said that people coming to Britain has always been part of its history. But he said that without clear rules, we might feel like strangers here, and not like a country that works together.

Some groups who help refugees and some Labour politicians were not happy with what Starmer said. He said that many people coming to the UK had caused problems for the country. A Labour politician named Sarah Owen wrote online that following the ideas of the right could be dangerous for the country.

Chris Philp from the Conservative party, who talks about immigration, said Labour's ideas are not enough.

He said that people want fewer immigrants. He wants Parliament to decide the highest number of people who can come to the country each year.