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UK's Labour’s Immigration White Paper: Reviewed

Release Date
2025-11-10
Media
Oxford Law Blogs
Summary
The UK Labour government’s May 2025 immigration white paper proposes stricter controls on migrant workers and students, including raising the skill threshold for work visas, extending the settlement route from five to ten years, curbing overseas recruitment for social care, and increasing compliance requirements for student visas. The paper claims these measures will reduce system “abuse,” protect public services, and restore the domestic labour market.

The analysis argues that these policies continue a long-standing colonial dynamic in which Britain relies on cheap, exploitable labour from formerly colonised countries while depicting migrants as a “problem.” By framing migration as unprecedented and criminal, the white paper obscures Britain’s historical extraction of wealth and labour from the Global South.

The government portrays “low-skilled migration” as the cause of pressure on jobs and public services. However, many of the jobs in question—especially in care work—are low-paid and precarious, which is why they are disproportionately filled by migrants from countries once colonised by Britain. Rather than acknowledging structural exploitation, the white paper blames migrants for labour market failures.

Similarly, while noting exploitation of international students and workers, the white paper faults migrants for “abuse” rather than examining how universities and employers benefit from these arrangements. Tighter restrictions will likely push migrants into informal work, increasing their vulnerability instead of reducing exploitation.

Finally, the language of the white paper frames contemporary migration as a disruption, ignoring the long history of labour mobility shaped by empire. By presenting migrant labour as an economic threat and moral problem, the white paper reinforces racist narratives and shifts attention away from systemic inequality and the ongoing reliance on migrant labour in the UK economy.
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United Kingdom

News Articles including "United Kingdom"

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Article Title
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2025-07-08
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2025-06-28
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United Kingdom
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2025-06-21
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2025-06-19
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2025-06-17
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2025-06-14
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2025-06-13
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2025-06-12
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2025-06-11
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United Kingdom
2025-06-07
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2025-05-31
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2025-05-29
Bevan Foundation warns of collapse in immigration legal advice in Wales and calls for a comprehensive recovery plan(Electronic Immigration Network)
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2025-05-27
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2025-05-22
Home Office issues apology over immigration raid(BBC)
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2025-05-22
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2025-05-19
Sir Tom Hunter: Scotland needs its own immigration policy(STV News)
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2025-05-19
UK Immigration Reform 2025: Key Changes and Business Impacts(Watson Farley )
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2025-05-15
Immigration white paper impacts on the Higher Education sector and international students(Free Movement)
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2025-05-15
Care boss 'really worried' over immigration plans(BBC)
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2025-05-13
What are the challenges facing the government's immigration plan?(BBC)
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2025-05-13
UK Government Publishes Immigration White Paper Setting Out Significant Intended Reforms(Morgan Lewis)
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2025-05-12
Care worker recruitment from abroad to end, Cooper says(BBC)
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2025-05-09
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2025-05-08
The Guardian view on Labour and immigration debate: time to change the frame(The Guardian)
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2025-05-08
UK Set to Toughen Immigration Rules: 'Fluent English' Required To Remain In Britain(NDTV World)
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2025-05-07
IAA welcomes proposed new powers to strengthen regulation and enforcement of immigration advisers(Electronic Immigration Network)
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2025-05-04
Badenoch says more children, not immigration, will help with ageing population(The Guardian)
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2025-05-03
Labour targets international students claiming asylum after election losses to Reform(The Guardian)
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2025-04-29
Sex offenders to be denied asylum rights in new law(BBC)
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2025-04-26
Immigration Offenders Deported to Nigeria, Ghana(Mirage.News)
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2025-04-22
Cooper ‘pandering’ to Farage by ordering publication of foreign criminals’ nationalities(The Guardian)
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2025-04-20
Lack of immigration legal aid 'emotional torture'(BBC)
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2025-04-19
If criticising mass immigration can get you banned from Britain, free speech is dead(The Telegraph)
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2025-04-15
Coalition urges repeal of harmful provisions in Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill(Electronic Immigration Network)
United Kingdom
2025-04-11
Global Underwater Hub Magazine: Decentralising Immigration Policy: Unlocking Scotland’s Economic Potential Through Regional Solutions(Fragomen)
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2025-04-11
UK Pushes Global Crackdown on Smuggling While Exploring Migration Outsourcing(ISPI)
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2025-04-08
Immigration Adviser Finder and Register now available(GOV.UK)
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2025-04-07
Business immigration update: Spring 2025(Womble Bond Dickinson)
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2025-04-04
Immigration officers arrest 16 at Anglesey solar farm(BBC)
United Kingdom
2025-03-25
UK immigration fees to rise from 9 April 2025(Smith Stone Walters)
United Kingdom
2025-03-24
Easier to apply, speedier processing and fewer hearings: how we made immigration appeals simpler, faster and more accessible(GOV.UK)
United Kingdom
2025-03-21
Top cancer experts ‘being put off UK by politicians’ messaging on immigration’(The Guardian)
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2025-03-20
UK immigration fee increases require recruitment budget adjustments(Pinsent Masons)
United Kingdom
2025-03-17
UNITED KINGDOM – Home Office issues new Immigration Rules Statement of Changes(Newland Chase)
United Kingdom