双语轻读/斯塔默在移民白皮书记者会上的讲话

李圣恩

Remarks by PM Keir Starmer at Immigration White Paper Press Conference

12 May 2025

移民白皮书新闻发布会讲话

斯塔默

Good morning.
Today, we publish a White Paper on immigration, a strategy absolutely central to my Plan for Change that will finally take back control of our borders and close the book on a squalid chapter for our politics, our economy, and our country.
“Take back control.” Everyone knows that slogan and everyone knows what it meant for immigration, or at least that’s what people thought. Because what followed from the previous Government, starting with the people who used that slogan, was the complete opposite. Between 2019 and 2023, even as they were going around our country telling people, with a straight face, that they would get immigration down, net migration quadrupled. Until in 2023, it reached nearly 1 million, that is about the population of Birmingham, our second largest city.That’s not control – it’s chaos.
And look, they must answer for themselves, but I don’t think that you can do something like that by accident. It was a choice. A choice made even as they told you, told the country, they were doing the opposite. A one-nation experiment in open borders conducted on a country that voted for control. Well, no more. Today, this Labour Government is shutting down the lab. The experiment is over. We will deliver what you have asked for – time and again – and we will take back control of our borders.
And let me tell you why. Because I know, on a day like today, people who like politics will try to make this all about politics, about this or that strategy, targeting these voters, responding to that party. No. I am doing this because it is right, because it is fair, and because it is what I believe in.
　　Let me put it this way: Nations depend on rules – fair rules. Sometimes they’re written down, often they’re not, but either way, they give shape to our values, guide us towards our rights, of course, but also our responsibilities, the obligations we owe to one another. Now, in a diverse nation like ours, and I celebrate that, these rules become even more important. Without them, we risk becoming an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together.
　　So when you have an immigration system that seems almost designed to permit abuse, that encourages some businesses to bring in lower-paid workers rather than invest in our young people, or simply one that is sold by politicians to the British people on an entirely false premise, then you’re not championing growth, you’re not championing justice, or however else people defend the status quo. You’re actually contributing to the forces that are slowly pulling our country apart. 早安。
今天我们将发布移民问题白皮书——这个战略在我的《变革计划》中占据核心地位，将最终实现边境管控权回归，为我们政治、经济和国家的这段不光彩历史画上句号。

"收回控制权"。这个口号人尽皆知，人们也以为明白它对移民政策的意义。但前政府——尤其是那些最初喊出这个口号的人——带来的却是截然相反的结局。2019至2023年间，当他们面不改色地在全国宣扬要降低移民数量时，净移民人数却翻了两番。到2023年，这个数字已逼近百万——相当于英国第二大城市伯明翰的人口规模。这不是控制，而是彻底的混乱。
必须指出，前任政府需要为此负责。我认为如此规模的失控绝非偶然，而是一种蓄意选择——在向国民承诺管控的同时，却对投票选择"控制"的国家进行开放边境的"一国实验"。今天，工党政府将关闭这个实验室，终结这场实验。我们将兑现国民的诉求——正如你们反复强调的——真正收回边境控制权。
需要明确的是：今天的举措无关政治算计，不涉及选民定位或党派博弈。我推行这个政策，因为这是正确的，因为这是公平的，因为这是我深信不疑的信念。
　　请允许我这样阐述：国家的根基在于公平的规则——无论成文与否，这些规则承载着我们的价值观，指引我们认识权利，更提醒我们肩负的责任，以及彼此间的义务。在像我们这样多元化的国家（我为此深感自豪），这些规则尤为重要。失去它们，我们或将沦为陌生人的群岛，而非携手共进的民族共同体。
　　当我们的移民体系存在制度性漏洞——纵容企业雇佣廉价外劳而非培养本土青年，当政客以虚假承诺向国民兜售这套制度——这绝非促进发展，更非维护正义。这实际上是在助长撕裂国家的暗流，无论辩护者如何粉饰现状。 So yes, I believe in this. I believe we need to reduce immigration significantly. That’s why some of the policies in this White Paper go back nearly three years, why I told the Labour Party Conference “taking back control is a Labour argument”, and why, most importantly of all, “inward migration is already falling with this government.” It’s about fairness.
And look, I mean, migration is part of Britain’s national story. We talked last week about the great rebuilding of this country after the war; migrants were part of that, and they make a massive contribution today. And you will never hear me denigrate that. But when people come to our country, they should also commit to integration, to learning our language, and our system should actively distinguish between those that do and those that don’t. I think that’s fair.
　　Equally, Britain must compete for the best talent in the world in science, in technology, in healthcare. You cannot simply pull up a drawbridge, let nobody in, and think that is an economy that would work. That would hurt the pay packets of working people – without question. But at the same time, we do have to ask why parts of our economy seem almost addicted to importing cheap labour rather than investing in the skills of people who are here and want a good job in their community. Sectors like engineering, where visas have rocketed while apprenticeships have plummeted. Is that fair to Britain? Is that fair to young people weighing up their future to miss out on those apprenticeships, to see colleges in their community almost entirely dedicated to one-year courses for overseas students? No, I don’t think that it is. And truth be told, I don’t think anyone does. Yet that is the Britain this broken system has created.
　　So, as this White Paper sets out, every area of the immigration system – work, family, and study – will be tightened up so we have more control. Skill requirements raised to degree level. English language requirements across all routes – including for dependents. The time it takes to acquire settled status extended from five years to ten. And enforcement tougher than ever because fair rules must be followed.

　　因此我坚信：我们必须大幅减少移民。这正是白皮书中部分政策可追溯至三年前的原因，也是我在工党大会上强调"夺回控制权是工党的核心理念"的缘由，更重要的是——"本届政府任内，外来移民数量已在下降"。这关乎社会公平。

当然，移民始终是英国历史的重要篇章。上周我们讨论战后国家重建时，移民群体就是其中不可分割的部分，他们至今仍在作出巨大贡献——我绝不会贬低这种价值。但选择来到我们国家的人，应当承诺融入社会、学习我们的语言，而我们的制度必须明确区分践行者与违背者。这才是真正的公平。

与此同时，英国必须在科技、医疗等关键领域全球竞逐顶尖人才。闭关锁国不仅不现实，更将直接损害劳动者的薪资水平。但我们必须反思：为何部分产业沉迷于引进廉价劳动力，却不愿投资本土渴望优质岗位的劳动者？

以工程领域为例——签证数量暴涨的同时，学徒项目暴跌。当社区学院几乎全盘转向留学生短期课程，当本地青年失去职业发展机会，这对英国公平吗？对权衡未来的年轻人公平吗？不，这绝不公平。而这一切，正是破碎制度催生的畸形现实。

因此，正如这份白皮书所阐述的，全面收紧工作、家庭、留学等各类签证审批，以便我们有更多的控制。

• 技能门槛提升至学位层级
• 所有签证路径（含家属）实施英语能力要求
• 永居身份获取年限从5年延长至10年
• 建立史上最严格执法体系——公平规则不容践踏

　　Now, make no mistake – this plan means migration will fall. That’s a promise. But I want to be very clear on this. If we do need to take further steps, if we do need to do more to release pressure on housing and our public services, then mark my words – we will. But it’s not just about numbers. Because the chaos of the previous government also changed the nature of immigration in this country. Fewer people who make a strong economic contribution, more who work in parts of our economy that put downward pressure on wages. So perhaps the biggest shift in this White Paper is that we will finally honour what “take back control” meant and begin to choose who comes here so that migration works for our national interest.

You know, this is where the whole debate is skewed, as if some people think controlling immigration is reigning in a sort of natural freedom rather than a basic and reasonable responsibility of government to make choices that work for a nation’s economy. And for years, this seems to have muddled our thinking, but let me be clear – it ends now. We will create a migration system that is controlled, selective, and fair. A clean break with the past that links access to visas directly to investment in homegrown skills so that if a business wants to bring people in from abroad, they must first invest in Britain. But also, so settlement becomes a privilege that is earned, not a right, easier if you make a contribution, if you work, pay in, and help rebuild our country.

Now, some people may even be against that, but I think for the vast majority of people in this country, that is what they have long wanted to see. An immigration system that is fair, that works for our national interest, and that restores common sense and control to our borders. That is what this White Paper will deliver: lower net migration, higher skills, backing British workers, the start of repairing our social contract, which the chaos and cynicism of the last government did so much to undermine.

Thank you. I will now take a number of questions from the media….

　　现在，毫无疑问，这个计划意味着移民将会减少。这是我们的庄严承诺。但需要明确一点，如果我们确实需要采取进一步措施，如果我们确实需要采取更多行动来缓解住房和公共服务方面的压力，那么记住我的话——我们一定会的。这不只是一场数字游戏，更关乎移民质量的结构性调整——上届政府的混乱导致高附加值移民比例下降，而压低薪资水平的低端岗位移民激增。因此白皮书最具革命性的转变在于：我们将真正践行"夺回控制权"的本质内涵，建立以国家利益为导向的移民筛选机制。

长久以来，关于移民政策的辩论存在着根本性的认知偏差。某些人将合理的边境管控曲解为对自由意志的束缚，这完全背离了现代国家治理的基本逻辑。今天，我们要拨开迷雾，建立全新的秩序——一个具有管控力、选择性和公平性的移民体系即将诞生！要彻底扭转过去的做法，将签证发放机制与本土人才培养深度绑定！任何企业想要引进海外人才，必须首先履行对英国本土劳动力的投资义务。永居身份应当成为一项需要争取的殊荣，而非与生俱来的权利。唯有通过切实贡献——用你的劳动、你的付出、你建设国家的热忱，才能赢得在这片土地上扎根的资格！这不仅是对移民政策的革新，更是重建社会契约的庄严承诺。让我们共同缔造一个既能保持开放胸怀，又能守护全民利益的现代英国！

现在，有些人可能会反对，但我认为，对于这个国家的绝大多数人来说，这是他们长期以来想看到的，即构建一个服务于国家利益的移民体系，用常识与管控重塑边境秩序，通过降低净移民、提升技能门槛、保障本土劳动者权益，修复被上届政府严重破坏的社会契约。这就是这份白皮书要传达的实质。

谢谢！下面，请媒体提问：....

（翻译：李圣恩2025.5.21）