How will James Cleverly deliver the biggest ever reduction in net migration?

Home secretary says drastic reforms will 'curb abuse' of the UK's immigration system

James Cleverly leaning on a No Entry sign next to Doberman
The government has faced pressure from the Conservative Party to act on immigration as new figures show it has reached record levels
(Image credit: Illustrated / Getty Images)

James Cleverly has pledged to deliver the "biggest ever" cut in net migration, unveiling a package of measures he says will cut the number of arrivals to the UK by 300,000.

Yesterday, the home secretary announced a five-point plan to reduce legal immigration and "curb abuse" of the UK system. And today Cleverly was in Kigali to sign a treaty with Rwanda that the UK government says addresses the concerns of the Supreme Court and will guarantee the safety of asylum seekers who are sent there.

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 Sorcha Bradley is a writer at The Week and a regular on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast. She worked at The Week magazine for a year and a half before taking up her current role with the digital team, where she mostly covers UK current affairs and politics. Before joining The Week, Sorcha worked at slow-news start-up Tortoise Media. She has also written for Sky News, The Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard and Grazia magazine, among other publications. She has a master’s in newspaper journalism from City, University of London, where she specialised in political journalism.