However, Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, rejected the call, insisting that net migration should fall.
Immigration into the UK soared in the early 2000s under Sir Tony after he declined to impose initial restrictions on migration from Eastern European countries that had just joined the EU.
The decision became a point of heated political debate. Opposition to free movement – the right for EU citizens to move elsewhere in the bloc – became a central argument made by the Brexit campaign during the 2016 referendum.
Sir Keir supported remaining in the EU at the time and played a key role in the push for a second referendum as Labour’s shadow Brexit spokesman.
But since winning the party leadership after Labour’s 2019 election defeat, he has vowed to accept the referendum result and focus on making it work, as he attempts to win back Brexit-supporting former Labour constituencies in the Midlands and the North East.
In July, he promised there would not be a return to EU-era “free movement” under his plan to “make Brexit work”.
Earlier this month, he said that the NHS was hiring too many foreign staff and argued immigration was not the solution to the health service’s staffing crisis.
