Close the borders! Suspend ALL immigration for 5 years!
229,772 people signed this petition to the UK Parliament after it opened on 26 November 2024; it closed on 26 May 2025. The Government responded on 17 January 2025. MPs debated it in Westminster Hall on 10 March 2025.
The petition
The petition's creator is not named in the Petitions site's published record. Quoted in full from the UK Parliament petitions site.
Close the borders! Suspend ALL immigration for 5 years!
We believe our country is facing serious challenges both from legal and illegal migration, and think the only way to deal with this is to suspend all immigration temporarily for 5 years.
We think we need a tougher approach. We believe we can’t even look after the people we have here at the moment.
The Government's response
The Government published its response on 17 January 2025; the petitions site lists the Home Office as responsible. Its summary:
The Government is taking the tough action required to reduce both illegal immigration and overall net migration, without the economic damage that would come from suspending immigration entirely.
The opening 329 words of the 774-word response:
In his Downing Street speech on 28 November last year, the Prime Minister made clear that net migration - which rose to a record high of more than 900,000 in the year ending June 2023 – must come down. It had been allowed to grow out of control in recent years, driven largely by overseas recruitment. The Prime Minister and Home Secretary have also repeatedly made clear their intention to reduce illegal immigration by dismantling the criminal smuggling gangs behind the trafficking of migrants across the Channel, by cracking down on illegal working within the UK, and by increasing the removal and returns of people with no right to be in this country.
On net migration, we are committed to bring down numbers through the continuation of tough measures on visas alongside the introduction of new employment legislation, ensuring that the visa and employment systems are strongly aligned. We will do this by making sure that workers in this country receive the skills training they need to fill vacancies in key sectors, so that overseas recruitment does not remain the default for filling those shortages. The independent Migration Advisory Committee has been commissioned to review key sectors, and the long-term plan we will set out in our Immigration White Paper will see departments working across government, partnering with experts to build our skills base and reducing reliance on overseas labour.
Alongside this action to tackle the root causes behind the UK’s historically high levels of net migration, we will continue to:
• Restrict most overseas students from bringing family members to the UK;
• Restrict the ability of care workers to bring dependants with them and require all care providers sponsoring migrants to register with the Care Quality Commission;
• Increase the general salary threshold for those arriving on Skilled Worker visas from £26,200 to £38,700; and
• Abolish the 20% going rate discount so that employers can no longer pay migrants less than UK workers in shortage occupations.
Read the full response on the petitions site.
Where the signatures came from
Signatures came from 650 constituencies. Measured against each constituency's electorate at the 2024 general election, the most came from Clacton, with 9.8 signatures per 1,000 electors (765 in all).
228,032 of the signatures were from the UK and 1,740 from elsewhere, by the location signers gave.
| Constituency | Signatures | Electorate, July 2024 | Per 1,000 electors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clacton | 765 | 78,245 | 9.8 |
| Llanelli | 675 | 71,538 | 9.4 |
| Castle Point | 623 | 71,026 | 8.8 |
| Blackpool North and Fleetwood | 640 | 73,339 | 8.7 |
| Great Yarmouth | 638 | 73,317 | 8.7 |
| Houghton and Sunderland South | 666 | 78,448 | 8.5 |
| Cannock Chase | 641 | 76,974 | 8.3 |
| Brentwood and Ongar | 619 | 75,352 | 8.2 |
| Redcar | 574 | 70,241 | 8.2 |
| Amber Valley | 579 | 71,546 | 8.1 |
| Region | Signatures |
|---|---|
| South East | 31,649 |
| North West | 30,265 |
| East of England | 24,603 |
| West Midlands | 22,141 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 21,144 |
| South West | 20,563 |
| East Midlands | 19,167 |
| London | 14,419 |
| North East | 13,255 |
| Scotland | 12,739 |
| Wales | 12,665 |
| Northern Ireland | 3,010 |
Debate in Parliament
MPs debated the petition in Westminster Hall on 10 March 2025. Read the debate in Hansard. House of Commons Library debate pack.
Source and receipt
- https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/700824.jsonUK Parliament Petitions API · read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256
f6ffb782dd423ef0… - The petition on petition.parliament.uk
The petition's words are its creator's and the response is the Government's; this site quotes both and gives no view on either. Signature counts can still change while a petition is open. To report an error, send a correction request.