Migrants who have been granted asylum will no longer be automatically given settlement and family reunion rights under a sweeping set of reforms.

The Prime Minister said the current system is "not fit for purpose" as he announced plans to overhaul the "overly generous" pull factor.

As part of the proposals, automatic family reunion rights will be ceased and requirements for long-term settlement in the UK will be altered.

The Prime Minister is announcing the reforms ahead of his attendance at the European Political Community Summit in Copenhagen, where he will co-chair a roundtable with leaders on innovative approaches to tackling illegal migration.

Sir Keir Starmer said: "I believe that if you want to come to the UK, you should contribute to our society. That is the tolerant and fair approach to migration that our communities are built on, but the current system is not fit for purpose.

"That is why we’re making fundamental changes to what those granted asylum are afforded in the UK. Settlement must be earned by contributing to our country, not by paying a people smuggler to cross the channel in a boat.

"The UK will continue to play its role in welcoming genuine refugees fleeing persecution. But we must also address the pull factors driving dangerous and illegal small boats crossings.

"There will be no golden ticket to settling in the UK, people will have to earn it."

The Prime Minister said the current system is 'not fit for purpose

Under the new proposals, "genuine refugees" will not be returned to their home country, and will be entitled to a package of core protection should they receive a positive decision.

However, they will face a new, longer route to settlement requiring them to contribute, replacing the current five years, and they will not have the automatic right to family reunion.

Full details of the reforms will be set out in an Asylum Policy Statement set to be unveiled later in the Autumn.

A Government source told GB News: "We are acknowledging that there are people who are 'asylum shopping' across the continent, looking for the country that offers them the most.

"We have been criticised in this country for being too generous, creating a pull factor.

"Today, the Government is showing that we get it, that we have been overly generous, and that we will reduce the pull factors that see thousands attempting small boat crossings."

Almost 900 migrants crossed the Channel to Britain on Saturday | GETTY

The announcement comes just days before the Conservatives and Greens are set to launch their party conferences over this weekend.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is expected to announce her party will support withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) after a review she commissioned recommended it.

Ms Badenoch is expected to lay out the proposals across her two speeches at the party conference, to end inter-party divisions over the convention.