article: She told the Conservative conference companies were "getting away" with not training British workers and tougher recruitment tests were needed. Students on "low-quality courses" could also face tougher entry rules. She promised councils Â£140m to address migration pressures and moves to deport EU criminals for "minor crimes". In a wide-ranging speech, her first significant policy address since becoming home secretary in July, Ms Rudd also announced a further crackdown on illegal immigration through new powers to go after landlords, employers and banks that facilitate it. But the proposals were met with concern by business groups while Labour said they would be taken with a "pinch of salt" given the government's failure to meet immigration targets. Prime Minister Theresa May has said she is still committed to reducing net migration to "sustainable" levels - taken to mean below 100,000 a year - even though David Cameron failed to meet the target between 2010 and 2015, with net migration recently exceeding 300,000. Ms Rudd, who campaigned to remain in the EU during the referendum, said immigration had brought benefits to the UK but the difference between those settling in the UK and those leaving was "too substantial" and that the Brexit vote had shown British people demanded action. Although this would not happen "overnight", she said only a substantial reduction could help "change the tide of public opinionâ€¦ so once again immigration is something we can all welcome". "I come here today with a warning to those that simply oppose any steps to reduce net migration," she said. "This government will not waver in its commitment to put the interests of the British people first "Reducing net migration back down to sustainable levels will not be easy. But I am committed to delivering it on behalf of the British people." Launching a consultation on entry rules for foreign workers and students, Ms Rudd said the tests that employers had to undergo before recruiting from abroad had become "tick-boxing exercises" and too often resulted in British citizens being discriminated against. "The test should ensure people coming here are filling gaps in the labour market, not taking jobs British people could do," she said. "So I want us to look again at whether our immigration system provides the right incentives for businesses to invest in British workers." While she was committed to attracting the best students from around the world, she said the current system too often "treated every student and university as equal" with insufficient consideration given to the contribution they could make to the UK against the obligations they placed on the state. "Foreign students, even those studying English Language degrees, don't even have to be proficient in speaking English. We need to look at whether this one-size-fits-all approach really is right for the hundreds of different universities, providing thousands of different courses across the country. "And we need to look at whether this generous offer for all universities is really adding value to our economy. This isn't about pulling up the drawbridge. It's about making sure students that come here, come to study."
summary: New curbs on foreign workers and students may be needed to "change the tide" of public opinion on immigration, Home Secretary Amber Rudd has said.