‘Care homes will close as result of immigration crackdown’

More social care services will be forced to close their doors as a result of Sir Keir Starmer’s immigration crackdown, providers have warned as they hit out at the government’s “whack-a-mole” approach to the sector.

The plans, which include ending the recruitment of care workers from overseas, will leave older people and disabled patients will be left without access to safe care, care companies added.

The latest government data shows 26,100 people between April last year and April 2025 used the health and care worker visa route. This is down from 143,900 from March 2023 to March 2024.

The drop in applicants came following changes introduced in 2024 to the overseas visa for health and care workers, which restricted the ability of care workers to also bring over dependents.

Restrictions in care worker visas have, in part, come as a response to concerns over unethical practices and exploitation of the new visa route opened up by the Home Office in 2021. This new route allowed for the health and care visa to be used for care staff.

Estimates published by the government suggest axing the use of the health and care visa for overseas staff will result in seven thousand fewer care workers.

Dr Jane Townson OBE, chief executive of the Homecare Association, which represents home care providers, told The Independent: “This policy signals, yet again, social care is not a priority for government, whatever ministers may say. The changes to immigration rules, layered on top of rising costs and chronic underfunding, will force more homecare providers to shut their doors. This is the brutal reality. When that happens, it is older and disabled people who can’t get the help they need to live safely and with dignity at home.

“If the government genuinely cared about the people we support, it would not make policy decisions in isolation without listening to those delivering care on the ground.”

Nadra Ahmed, co-chair of the National Care Association, said in response to the changes, “I think in reality if we can’t get a workforce, we can’t provide care services, and if we can’t deliver care services, ultimately the results would be that services will close their doors. We saw this post-Brexit when the resilience in the sector was so low.

“This [new policy] has all elements of being a repeat of that [Brexit] unless the government has got a plan tucked away to replace the migrant workforce… There is “almost a conspiracy theory” as to what the plan is for social care, is this a way of decimating the sector in a way that it becomes nationalised?

“There seems to be, very uncharacteristically of a Labour government, a complete and total misunderstanding of where social care fits into the economy”

Experts have criticised the government’s approach to social care, warning that the latest changes come without any promise of further funding or investment to encourage more domestic staff.

The most recent estimates, from Skills for Care, showed that for 2023-24, there were 131,000 vacant posts across adult social care. The organisation has also estimated that the sector will need an additional 540,000 by 2040.

Lucinda Allen, policy fellow for the Health Foundation, told The Independent: “We need to remember that migrant workers have long played a really important role in sustaining the UK’s health and care sector.

“The sector is already in a very fragile state, and that’s partly due to the government’s successive governments taking a whack-a-mole approach to social care. The back and forth over the care worker visa is in part a consequence of the central government’s limited understanding, oversight and funding of the care system.”

“There are lots of issues at play here at the moment, with limited funding from central government, the increase to the national living wage and the increases to employer national insurance contributions.”

“So we’ve already heard providers saying that there will be an impact on their services, as a result of those decisions. and that obviously can impact people’s care, can leave people without care.”

One owner of a home care provider in the North West, Stella Shaw, told The Independent that overseas workers have been “absolutely vital to the success and the sustainability of my business.”

“Without them, I simply wouldn’t be able to meet the growing demand for you know, quality home care…Their contribution has enabled us to maintain continuity of care, after Brexit and COVID, and those sorts of major events, and you know, reduce hospital admissions.

“I worry so much…With these changes. I can’t honestly say that it isn’t going to negatively impact our ability to continue to deliver care. Our elderly population are going to be left vulnerable, and if everybody feels the same as I do, it leaves the question, who is going to provide the care?”

Responding to the news on Sunday Unison general secretary, Christina McAnea, Unison’s general secretary warned: “The NHS and the care sector would have collapsed long ago without the thousands of workers who’ve come to the UK from overseas.”

The Home Office was approached for comment.

Trump says he could join Putin and Zelensky in Turkey

Donald Trump has suggested he could join Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian president Vladimir Putin in Turkey this week if the two leaders meet for peace talks there.

“I’ve got so many meetings, but I was thinking about actually flying over there. There’s a possibility of it, I guess, if I think things can happen, but we’ve got to get it done,” Mr Trump said in the White House yesterday. Mr Trump’s current schedule has him visiting Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar this week.

Mr Zelensky on Sunday night agreed to Russian president Mr Putin’s offer of direct talks between the two countries and said he “will be waiting for Putin in Turkey on Thursday personally”.

This comes as Moscow hit back at Europe‘s 30-day ceasefire ultimatum as “unacceptable” and “unsuitable” following Western threats of sanctions.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said it was wrong to “use such language with Russia” as Europe’s deadline for Russia to agree to a truce with Ukraine got closer.

European countries, with the backing of US president Donald Trump, have told Vladimir Putin to agree to the ceasefire by Monday or face more sanctions.

Kim Kardashian to testify in $10m robbery case in Paris

All eyes will be on Kim Kardashian when she steps into the witness box of a Paris court on Tuesday to give evidence in the trial of ten people accused of violently robbing her in 2016.

Californian media personality was left traumatised after she was tied up and gagged by a gang of burglars, as they stole millions of dollars worth of jewellery from the central Paris apartment where she was staying during Paris Fashion Week.

Eight of the ten defendants – who face charges including armed robbery, kidnapping, and criminal conspiracy – deny any involvement in the case. The case has been dubbed the “grandpa robbers” trial due to five of them being pensioners.

Ms Kardashian will now testify over the ordeal, which she has spoken about openly in the past nine years. Speaking in an episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians last year, Ms Kardashian said she fears the robbery turned her into a “full robot with like, no emotion”.

On Tuesday, she will face those who are accused by French authorities of being behind the robbery. This includes 68-year-old Aomar Ait Khedache, known as “Old Omar”, alleged to have orchestrated the operation, and 71-year-old Yunice Abbas, who has admitted his part in the robbery, and even wrote a memoir about it.

The Independent will bring you live updates from inside the courtroom.

Our national identity is in crisis. What does it mean to be British?

When it comes to national and personal identity, Paul Gauguin attached the only three questions that matter to his enigmatic masterpiece, a haunting landscape of Tahitian women led by an allegorical depiction of Eve: Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?

Who we are, in the historical present, is an ageless question that demands political savvy and a rhetorical imagination. Occasionally, the cries of pain from those at the top who find themselves on the wrong side of this argument pierce the background hiss of everyday events. Watch ex-president Joe Biden on BBC TV denounce Donald Trump’s brutal Oval Office mugging of Volodymyr Zelensky (“What kind of president even talks like that? That’s not who we are”) and you see the anguish of a man coming to terms with his residence in the dustbin of history.

This search for new and better narratives in a changing world has become a top theme for disrupted times. The election of Pope Leo XIV is a reminder that it’s not just the US (and the UK) that are absorbed in that all-important quest for identity. Some commentators, indeed, have framed the election of Leo as a reassertion of classic American pluralism by the Roman Catholic hierarchy, a priestly riposte to Trump’s ugly “America First” viciousness.

In Britain, that search for a role has bedevilled our politics since Suez, with Brexit just the worst expression of who we aspire to be, a false step that’s steered our politics into its current impasse: a clueless Labour government and a pointless Conservative opposition, with the jackals of Reform snapping at their heels in an opportunistic, unhinged parody of little-England protest.

National identity is fraught with rabbit holes. While you might hesitate trying to unscramble “What does it mean to be British?”, many Brits still declare allegiance to any number of totems – national, sporting, ethnic, civic or sexual – braided into a weird tapestry of Britishness. To take one small example, our literature includes the work of Conrad (Polish); Swift, Wilde, Joyce and Beckett (Irish); Naipaul and Walcott (West Indian), Hume, Burns, and Stevenson, (Scots); and Henry James and TS Eliot (American).

“British” remains a puzzle at the core of who we are. In 2007, when Gordon Brown attempted to define the nature of this conundrum, he was widely mocked for the rhetorical equivalent of trying to pin the tail on the donkey. One newspaper (The Times) sponsored a campaign for a “British” motto, something to match “Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité”. Something a bit less embarrassing than “Cool Britannia”. Readers’ suggestions included, for example: “Dipso. Fatso. Bingo. Asbo. Tesco”. Closely followed by: “No Motto Please, We’re British”.

In 2025, our national identity remains contentious. What’s not said is the important bit. With some Britons, a raised eyebrow can be as meaningful as a national mission statement – except, of course, in a crisis. It’s crises that remind us who we really are. As the Luftwaffe massed over London, George Orwell’s brilliant essay The Lion and the Unicorn explored the complexity of a society at war. “We call our islands by no less than six different names,” he wrote. “England, Britain, Great Britain, the British Isles, the United Kingdom and, in very exalted moments, Albion.” Finally, even Orwell was forced to exclaim: “How can one make a pattern out of this muddle?”

Perhaps the last time “British” made sense was in 1940. Winston Churchill wrapped himself in the union flag to unite and mobilise the country. “We shall fight on the beaches” became an atavistic cry of defiance. The latest celebration of VE Day throughout the shires tells you all you need to know about its place in the national psyche. The sea and the beach embody the paradoxes of island life.

Churchill’s rhetorical genius knew what chord he was sounding. It’s the sea that defines, aggravates and inspires us; the sea that‘s always separated us from our enemies and sponsored an urgent traffic with the wider world, translating vigilant curiosity into trade and exploration.

We have salt in our blood. Today, the tides and climate of the sea continue to shape British identity. Some 30 per cent of Britons live within six miles of the coast, and one millennial YouGov poll placed “being an island” sixth in the top 10 of “Best things about Britain”. Best thing of all – at 65 per cent? The countryside. Compared to, say, the French, we are a proud but fundamentally conservative people. And it’s the sea that makes us British. The sea is not just the best defence known to man, and a great natural highway: people who live by water are different. We islanders have different physical, and psychic, horizons. Brexit began on our beaches.

The sea also sponsored the British concept of privacy. Islanders are insular, and insular is synonymous with “defiant, separate, alone, divergent, and self-sufficient”. As Orwell noted, British respect for individual privacy is so deeply ingrained, it is almost a national characteristic. The flip side of privacy is self-assertion, just as shy can be the antonym of arrogant. To be a native of these islands was – and still is – to be conscious of a unique and distinctive character.

Down south, for instance, ours was the first society in Europe to promote its identity, composing a vernacular account of its history, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. As islanders, our ancestors were imprinted with the DNA of self-expression: “Words, words, words.”

For hundreds of years, the name of this misty archipelago was in flux. There were rival kingdoms, in Mercia, Wessex, East Anglia, and further north in the kingdom of Cumbria. The mythic “Britain” of King Arthur or King Lear was defined by its cliffs and seas. Blessed – and cursed – by its position. As well as being highly interactive, our ancestors suffered constant invasion.

The South and Midlands knew what it meant to be subdued by the Romans and successive waves of Anglo-Saxons. Then converted to Christianity by St Augustine. Next, almost annihilated by the Danes. Finally, subjugated by the Normans. The upshot was a tradition of fierce domestic individuality. Today, the legacy of that “unique and distinctive character” is the world’s understanding of “what it means to be British”. This remains paradoxical at every level.

The juxtaposition of sea and land opposes the awesome majesty of the ocean with the petty, parochial and mundane shabbiness of the domestic hearth. As Tolkien implies, at one level, we’re all hobbits. Despite the veneration surrounding Shakespeare’s “sceptr’d isle”, one timeless British quality is a grotty, subtopian mess.

Nevertheless, the English continue to repeat this story in versions more and more detached from reality, celebrating the soft power of English and Englishness as our gift to the world. In this vein, Amorous or Loving: The Highly Peculiar Tale of English and the English by Rupert Gavin explores the vicissitudes of English language and culture, from the mythic origins of “The Land of Tattooed People” to the London Olympics of 2012. Inevitably, there is another reading, one that has little of the cultural superiority implicit in what we might call “the BBC version”.

My England and its English are indeed “peculiar”, but chiefly as the upshot of chance, cock-up, crisis, and catastrophe. Its people survived successive invasions by the skin of their teeth, acquired a fierce and precocious sense of provincial identity, and discovered in words and argument a useful way to regulate the violence of common life with common law.

A thousand years ago, they were comprehensively humiliated by a French army that imposed – top-down – an authoritarian regime famous for its cruelty. But the defeated Anglo-Saxons were a people who had only just acquired – and would never forget – a taste for free thought and free speech.

For more than a hundred years (and even into the 14th century), this language and culture went underground, surviving on the lips and in the minds of common folk while finding self-expression in ballads, riddles, folk tales, and out-of-doors drama. Their governors, meanwhile, spoke French, and ruled in Latin.

Shakespeare dramatised the temper of the English commoner in Henry VI: Part II with “let’s kill all the lawyers”. Indeed, Will Shakespeare from Stratford is the product of a highly informal, provincial society, the son of a Midlands glover. When he came to London, he joined a community of players barely distinguishable from vagabonds.

The pioneers of the English culture we celebrate today were, like the first English writers and artists, outsiders within this society. The idea that their poetry and plays should be a “gift” to global culture would have seemed absurd, even unthinkable. Shakespeare himself was first and foremost an entertainer, never fully recognised as an “author” until the publication of the First Folio (1623), seven years after his death. Approximately a generation later, the playwright’s London audience watched the execution of Charles I: a profound expression of the English belief in the sovereign identity of the free citizen.

‘Amorous or Loving: The Highly Peculiar Tale of English and the English’ by Rupert Gavin is published by Unicorn, £25

Graphic testimony emphasises the reality of Diddy accusations

Just hours after arriving at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Courthouse for Sean “Diddy” Combs’ trial, jurors had already watched graphic footage of domestic violence and heard salacious testimony about the rapper’s sex life.

Monday marked the first day of hearing evidence in the hotly-anticipated trial. It was also the first time Diddy faced the 12 jurors who will determine his fate. The courtroom was stuffed with crowds of people, anxiously awaiting more context to the indictment’s bombshell accusations. In that sense, opening statements and testimony did not disappoint.

The first day already exposed shocking material, including frequent mentions of baby oil, allegations that he made a male sex worker urinate in his girlfriend’s mouth, and the hotel surveillance footage from 2016 capturing Diddy assaulting his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura.

Attorneys for the government argued that the 55-year-old music mogul ran a decades-long “criminal enterprise” and engaged in sex trafficking and prostitution to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and maintain power. He has pleaded not guilty and his attorneys argued he is a “flawed individual” who came from little wealth to build “lawful businesses,” which his sex life has nothing to do with.

Jurors had to watch the 2016 video filmed in the InterContinental Hotel in Century City, California multiple times on Monday, which captured the music mogul kicking Ventura before dragging her across the sixth-floor hallway. Ventura used a hotel phone to call for help.

Israel Florez, the prosecution’s first witness, was working as a security officer at the hotel and responded to her call. When he reached the couple, Florez testified that Diddy — only wearing a towel and colorful socks — had a “devilish stare” while Ventura — burying herself in a hoodie — cowered in the corner looking “scared.”

After de-escalating the situation, Florez informed Diddy that his room would be charged for the damage to the hotel, including a broken vase. He remembered Diddy handing him a “stack of cash” and told him: “Take care of this. Don’t tell anyone.” The defense later suggested Diddy had offered the wad of cash to pay for the damage.

In opening statements, the defense team admitted that the defendant committed domestic violence. Teny Geragos, one of Diddy’s attorneys, said her client has a “bad temper” and takes “full responsibility for domestic violence in this case.” She noted he’s “not proud of that.”

The 2016 incident at the InterContinental, Geragos said, stemmed from “jealousy,” noting that the argument was over Ventura’s phone due to his suspicion of her infidelity. “Jealousy was on full display” in the footage, she said. Diddy’s actions are “indefensible, dehumanizing, violent and terrible,” his attorney argued, but they are not evidence of sex trafficking.

The footage was not the only time jurors learned about Diddy’s violent tendencies. Daniel Phillip, a manager at a male revue show who was paid anywhere from $700 to $6,000 to sleep with Ventura in 2012 while Diddy watched, told the court about seeing the music mogul assault his then-girlfriend on two occasions.

Phillip first encountered the pair after his boss asked him to dance at a bachelorette party at the Gramercy Park Hotel, in New York City, because none of their Black dancers were available. But he didn’t do a strip tease at a bachelorette party; instead, he was greeted by Ventura wearing a red lace outfit, high heels, and a red wig. She then handed him $200 to sleep with just her while her partner watched.

The hotel room was dotted with velvet couches, lit candles, and a table holding baby oil and lube. Although Diddy was sporting a white robe, a baseball cap and a bandana that covered his nose down — and said he worked in importing and exporting — Phillip said he recognized the music mogul’s voice immediately. Diddy sat in the corner watching as Ventura and Phillip had sex, the male escort told the court. Ventura gave him thousands after the encounter, which kicked off a series of similar encounters at ritzy hotels across the city.

At times, Diddy directed Phillip and Ventura to “slow down” or to “separate” or even where Phillip had to ejaculate, he testified. These encounters lasted anywhere from one to 10 hours and Diddy would record some of them. At one point, Diddy asked Phillip for his driver’s license, “just for insurance” — a move that Phillip understood to be a threat, he told the court.

Another time, at Ventura’s apartment, Phillip saw a liquor bottle fly by her after she told her then-boyfriend to wait a minute before she went back to bed with him. Diddy, according to Phillip, then grabbed Ventura by her hair and dragged her into her bedroom. “B****, when I tell you to come, you come now, not later,” Phillip recalled Diddy saying.

Philip then heard what sounded like Diddy slapping Ventura in her bedroom.

But the male escort didn’t intervene. Pressed as to why he didn’t contact law enforcement, Phillip told the court that he feared he would lose his life, figuring Diddy had “unlimited power.” Phillip started experiencing erectile dysfunction after that incident, he testified.

Elsewhere in Phillip’s testimony, he was asked if he had ever urinated on Ventura, and who directed him to do so. He told the court that Ventura asked him to, and told him he was doing it wrong because he was “supposed to let out a little at time.”

Despite the salacious first day of testimony, Combs’s family presented a united front.

Janice Combs, the music mogul’s mother, walked with her two grandchildren, Quincy Brown and Justin Combs, while his other four children, Christian, Chance, Jessie and D’Lila Combs held hands in and out of the courthouse, maintaining straight faces and refusing to engage with the media.

Even some of Combs’s fan base turned out for the first day of trial.

Roza Leonora, a longtime fan from the Bronx, said she was “heartbroken” for the Victory singer when she saw him appearing greyer and thinner in court than his usual “glitz and glam” self.

“I hope Diddy beats this,” Leonora, 47, said sullenly.

Kiara Williams used her day off from work to attend the first day of the trial – she did the same thing last week for the first day of jury selection.

Although Diddy is now in a much different venue than he once was, his presence still compels some to camp out overnight to try to see him.

Several people posted up in tents, sleeping in downtown Manhattan since midday Sunday, to try to get inside. Others held front-of-the-line spots only to offer to sell them to journalists and members of the public waiting in the lengthy queue, with one man making $300 for his spot.

Diddy’s name recognition, combined with the startling allegations, has made the sex crimes case an international headline.

The trial is just kicking off but one verdict is already in: Diddy still seems to be the hottest ticket in town.

Celebration villa breaks: find your perfect luxury getaway

If you’re planning a milestone birthday, a big anniversary, or a long-awaited reunion, a villa holiday is hard to beat. Imagine clinking glasses on a rooftop terrace at sunset or gathering loved ones around a candlelit garden table for a leisurely dinner under the night sky.

These special occasions deserve much more than booking out a busy hotel, and nothing beats having your own sun-drenched sanctuary where you have the space and privacy to celebrate in style. Whether you’re heading to Marrakech in the shadow of the Atlas Mountains, to the rolling hills of Tuscany, or a tropical oasis further afield, Villas are the perfect home-away-from-home for celebrating something, or someone, special.

CV Villas’ luxurious ABOVE collection offers the perfect backdrop for unforgettable moments – think breathtaking settings, total privacy, and the kind of comfort and space that makes everyone feel at home. All come with stunning interiors, sweeping views as far as the eye can see, and enviable locations in some of the world’s most sought-after spots. Each villa is hand-picked by dedicated CV Villa specialists, who are experts in helping people craft their dream getaway. Many come with their own infinity pools, breathtaking views and large alfresco dining areas, perfect for spending quality time together during life’s most important moments. Villas aren’t just places to stay, they’re a big part of the celebration itself.

From the moment you book your stay to your arrival back home, the CV Villas Concierge team is there to make everything as seamless and stress-free as possible. They are dedicated to looking after you and your party before and throughout your holiday so that you can focus on the things that really matter, like spending quality time together and celebrating without having to worry about the minor details. The team tailors each trip to exactly what you’re after, whether you’re looking to book a private boat day or need to organise a surprise celebration dinner, nothing is too much trouble. Many of the five-star villas even come with their own butlers and chefs so that you can be waited on hand and foot during your special getaway.

ABOVE villas are the epitome of luxury and come with designer interiors, infinity pools boasting panoramic ocean views, and terraces made for golden hour cocktails  – properties with serious star quality. What’s more, they’re located all around the world, from the sun-soaked shores of Spain and Greece to the palm-fringed beaches of far-flung Sri Lanka and beyond.

Sampling delicious local food is a big part of a holiday, but catering for a large group can often mean juggling different requests and palates. Luckily for you, many of these luxury villas come with their very own in-villa chefs – perfect for when you’d rather toast the moment with a glass of fizz than spend time flapping around in the kitchen. Instead, let your chef whip up multi-course meals morning till night, using the freshest local produce, all based on your personal tastes and dietary requirements, before tucking into it alfresco under the undisturbed starry night sky.

The little luxuries make a big difference to a bucket-list trip: daily housekeeping to keep things spic and span, spa treatments for when you need a little R&R, wine tastings for the adults, yoga sessions with epic views, and even round-the-clock babysitting. All of this can be arranged to make your stay feel even more indulgent.

Maison Emilion, France

This rustic French villa is practically made for wine lovers, aptly located amidst the rolling vineyards of Bordeaux. This six-bedroom hilltop hangout boasts views of the working vineyards from every angle, including from the heated pool and surrounding sunbeds. Wander into the nearby village of Saint-Émilion, then enjoy the included wine-tasting experience before settling into the garden for dinner with nothing but the glow of flickering candlelight and the moonlit sky.

Oleander, Corfu

It doesn’t get much more luxurious than Oleander in Corfu, a five-bedroom villa overlooking Avlaki Bay and the picturesque town of Kassiopi. It’s located high above the Ionian Sea and is the ideal villa for memorable summer celebrations. Soak up the sunshine from the infinity pool while enjoying views of Albania’s craggy Ceraunian Mountains, or hang out on the wrap-around terraces and communal outside dining areas. During peak season at Oleander, chef service is also included, so you can enjoy meals with your loved ones without even having to leave the villa.

Spirit of Son Fuster, Mallorca

Spirit of Son Fuster in Mallorca is hard to beat for large groups and multigenerational stays. This five-star bolthole is set in a stunning natural landscape at the foot of the Alaro twin mountains, right near the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Serra de Tramuntana, and is as secluded as it gets. This gorgeous ​​14th-century manor house sleeps twenty people across ten bedrooms and even has its own on-site spa and hammam where everyone can enjoy treatments in the dedicated treatment rooms. There’s even a private cinema room for movie nights and a well-stocked wine cellar filled with local vintage wines.

Masseria Giardini, Puglia

Masseria Giardini in Puglia is the height of luxury and the perfect home-away-from-home for families and large groups. It was built in 1750 and is surrounded by leafy olive groves and landscaped gardens curated by Chelsea Flower Show winners Urquhart & Hunt. Enjoy unparalleled views of the Canale Di Pirro Valley from this ten-bedroom farmhouse and spend days lazing around in the heated pool. This villa is an architectural masterpiece, with signature stone domed roofs and hand-carved stone baths in five of the ten bedrooms.

For more travel information and inspiration and to book your perfect villa getaway, visit CV Villas

How to make people care about migrant deaths – and stop them happening

We don’t know exactly how many people died, but we do know this: last year was the deadliest on record for refugees trying to cross the English Channel. While the UN estimates that 82 people – including at least 14 children – lost their lives, French frontline charities believe the fatality rate to have been significantly higher.

The fact that there is no universally accepted record of deaths at sea means that the true scale of these preventable tragedies remains hidden.

Our Labour government has rightly pledged to reduce deaths in the Channel, but how can we prevent further loss of life when we don’t even know how many lives are being lost? People are more than statistics, but right now, we don’t even have those.

This is why I’m proposing an amendment to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, which would create a duty on the Home Office to report quarterly on these deaths. Such reports would be as regular as those on immigration statistics, because every death in our asylum system must be acknowledged and learnt from.

Of course, this amendment must be just one of many steps this government takes to build an asylum and immigration system that is rooted in compassion and humanity rather than performative cruelty.

If our leaders are serious about preventing future deaths, they must create safe and legal routes for people seeking refuge, so they don’t have to risk their lives just to reach our shores.

We were right to stop the Conservatives’ Rwanda deportation scheme, but we must now go further and do everything possible to avoid more casualties at our borders. That starts with facing the truth of just how many people are dying in the Channel.

Refugees are dying in camps and hotels. They’re dying on our streets after being made homeless. And they’re dying by suicide and from infectious disease.

Freedom of information requests reveal that 2024 was the deadliest ever year in asylum accommodation, with 51 people dying while under the care of the Home Office: among them a 15-year-old boy and two babies. Many of these deaths were attributed to suicide, while others had an unknown cause or even an unknown date.

Thanks to the tireless efforts of campaigners and journalists, we know some of these people’s names and stories.

There is the teenage victim of modern slavery who took his own life while terrified of deportation. The father-of-one who died of diphtheria after being held in a government processing centre. The seven-year-old girl who was crushed to death on an overcrowded boat.

But what of those who have slipped through the cracks – who died in silence, unrecorded? The very least the state owes people who have died while seeking protection is for their deaths not to be swept under the rug, and for their humanity to be recognised and remembered. In fact, it’s not even the bare minimum.

These deaths are rising at a terrifying rate: limited data suggests that deaths have risen twelvefold since 2019 – far faster than the number of asylum claims. Reports in 2023 showed that the number of people seeking asylum who died by suicide had doubled compared to the years prior to 2020. And since these statistics only cover people who die while physically in Home Office accommodation, the true number is likely to be far higher.

Many of these deaths are preventable, and they are happening because successive Conservative governments created a system that is designed to deter and dehumanise.

Over the past decade, the scapegoating of refugees for the UK’s social and economic problems has become normalised in the media, with bad-faith debates growing increasingly inflamed and politicised. The human beings at the centre of this have been forgotten amid endless talk of “stopping the boats”. We cannot continue this legacy.

Accurate data is vital if we are to save future lives, but I want to make clear that this small change in the bill is not intended to reduce people to faceless statistics. Where it is safe to do so, the public should know the names of those who have died, so that their passing can be properly mourned.

By speaking the names of people who have died in our asylum system in parliament, I hope we can return some kindness and dignity to our discussion of refugees.

People who flee war and persecution and come to the UK have already overcome unimaginable odds. They have left behind their homes, families and identities in pursuit of something we should all have the right to: safety, a secure home, and the freedom to live without fear or persecution.

That these traumatised people are dying so close to the end of their journey is a tragedy.

We owe it to those who have lost their lives in our asylum system to understand how and why they died. We also owe it to them to act, to stop deaths like these from happening. And that starts with properly recording them.

Nadia Whittome is the Labour MP for Nottingham East

If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.

If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you

New rules could make UK citizenship harder to obtain than US

The government has unveiled a slate of new requirements and restrictions around migration to the UK, from a higher level of English language proficiency to eliminating the careworker visa pathway entirely.

“If you want to live in the UK, you should speak English. That’s common sense,” said Sir Keir Starmer on X (formerly Twitter).

The changes could make British citizenship among the hardest to achieve in the anglophone world, with a decade-long wait to apply.

“Extending the standard route to settlement to 10 years risks making it harder for people to contribute and settle into their communities,” said Marley Morris, associate director at the Institute for Public Policy Research.

Here, The Independent looks at how some of Labour’s new rules compare to immigration systems in the US, Australia and New Zealand.

The most recent figure for net migration to the UK stands at 728,000 people in the year to June 2024.

Some 1.2 million people entered the country during that period, while 479,000 left the UK.

“A one-nation experiment in open borders conducted on a country that voted for control. Well, no more,” Sir Keir said on Monday. “The experiment is over. We will deliver what you have asked for – time and again – and we will take back control of our borders.”

The figure was down overall by 20 per cent from the previous year, when net migration hit a record-high level of 906,000 in the year to June 2023.

Net migration to the UK remains far above its pre-Brexit level, when it stood at around 200,000 to 250,000.

New migration figures are set to be released next week, revealing the first full migration numbers since Sir Keir’s Labour government came to power.

The figures, showing net migration up to December last year, will provide an insight into the effectiveness of the government’s immigration strategy so far.

The new route to settlement, which doubles the time a person is required to have lived in the UK from five years to 10, will mean British citizenship is among the hardest to acquire in the world.

This decade-long requirement is over twice as high as in comparable countries, and is perhaps the most significant change made in this white paper.

Mr Morris added: “Visa holders will spend lengthy periods on an insecure status, increasing their risk of poverty and losing status altogether. This could inhibit integration while doing little to bring down numbers.”

Even in the United States, which is considered to have one of the toughest immigration systems, migrants only have to have lived in the country for five years on a visa before they can begin to apply for citizenship.

The same requirement exists in New Zealand, and it’s even lower – four years – in Australia.

“The UK will become a relative outlier on the global stage, where 10 years to gain settlement is rare,” explained Jonathan Beech, managing partner at immigration law specialists Migrate UK.

“[This brings into question] how attractive the UK will be to those with the skills and expertise the UK requires to be an economic powerhouse.”

The government has placed a new emphasis on English language requirements for incoming migrants.

Skilled workers and those looking to settle in the UK will see the language requirement rise from B1 to B2 in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, along with other changes.

This is a higher stage of the “independent user” level of proficiency in English.

However, the UK is not necessarily unusual in imposing this requirement.

For skilled workers and students, New Zealand requires a minimum 6.5 score on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), which is equivalent to the upper end of a B2 score in the European framework.

Australia also requires a score of 6 to 6.5 on the IELTS scale, which is broadly in line with the new B2 standard.

The US, meanwhile, is less strict on English language proficiency. There is no standardised score that applicants must achieve.

However, a basic level of English is generally required, with the US citizenship test requiring applicants to read, write, speak, and understand English.

As part of Labour’s crackdown on migration, students in the UK will be made to leave sooner after they graduate.

Currently, foreign students in UK universities can stay on for two years after they finish their degree, via the graduate visa route. The new changes will reduce this period to just 18 months.

Meanwhile, in Australia, graduates can stay up to twice as long on a graduate visa, from two to three years. Foreign graduates in New Zealand can also remain for up to three years.

In the United States, students must leave just 60 days after they graduate, unless they receive an optional practical training visa. In limited cases, graduates can stay for up to 12 months, or 24 months for science, technology, engineering or mathematics students.

This puts the UK on the more restrictive end of opportunities for foreign students post-graduation, though it is mostly in line with the US.

In the 2022/23 academic year, there were around 750,000 international students in higher education, according to research by the House of Commons, which is equal to one in four university students. International students contributed £12bn in tuition fees in 2022/23, making higher education a lucrative sector.

Meanwhile, research from London Economics estimates that international students could bring net benefits worth £37.4bn to the UK. Yet the government’s paper notes there has been an increase in students sponsored by “lower-ranking education institutions”, and not enough international students are moving into graduate-level roles.

Though shortening the timeframe for those on a graduate visa could speed up the transition into higher-paid roles, Mr Beech also warned it could force talented foreign graduates to leave the UK.

“For those who do obtain an 18-month graduate visa, they will be keen to lock in a sponsored role with the first graduate-level opportunity they come across,” explained Mr Beech.

“In addition, employers will be worried about compliance and scrutiny when deciding whether the vacancy being offered to a graduate visa holder meets the required level. Not all job codes exactly match the vacancy being offered, and it could be a route of anxiety for HR teams who are not well versed in immigration rules and guidance.”