No 10 defends Starmer’s language on immigration likened to Enoch Powell speech | Immigration and asylum

Downing Avenue has robustly defended Keir Starmer’s language on immigration, which has been likened to that utilized by Enoch Powell, rejecting the direct comparability however saying the prime minister wouldn’t “draw back” from direct discuss in regards to the topic.

A sequence of MPs criticised Starmer for his rhetoric when introducing a brand new coverage paper on immigration on Monday, significantly his warning that the UK risked turning into “an island of strangers”, a near-direct echo of language utilized by Powell in his notorious 1968 “rivers of blood” speech.

Requested in regards to the controversy on Tuesday, Sadiq Khan, the Labour mayor of London, mentioned he wouldn’t have used the phrase, whereas defending Starmer’s broader strategy.

Alf Dubs, the Labour peer who arrived within the UK as a toddler refugee fleeing the Nazis, additionally expressed alarm.

“I’m sad that we’ve got senior politicians who use language which is paying homage to Powell, and I’m sorry that Keir Starmer used a few of the phrases that you simply’ve simply quoted,” Dubs informed LBC. “It’s not the form of particular person he’s, and I don’t assume it’s what he really believes in.”

Requested about Starmer’s phrases within the Senedd, the Welsh Labour chief, Eluned Morgan, mentioned: “I’m not going to make use of divisive language in terms of immigration, that’s not the worth we’ve got in Welsh Labour.”

A Downing Avenue supply pushed again towards the MPs’ criticism of Starmer’s speech, wherein he additionally argued that the Conservatives’ strategy to immigration had finished “incalculable” harm to the nation.

“Robust phrases and difficult coverage are required to unravel robust issues,” they mentioned. “The Tories left immigration to run utterly uncontrolled, with 1 million folks coming right here in a single 12 months. The voters need us to get a grip of it. We are going to, and we gained’t apologise for doing so.”

Chatting with LBC, Khan mentioned: “The form of language I take advantage of is totally different to the language utilized by others. That’s not the form of phrases I might use.”

He added that he thought Starmer was referring to “guarantees made by Brexiteers” and up to date excessive ranges of migration, and never “that contribution we make to this multicultural capital metropolis and nation”.

On Monday, a number of Labour MPs expressed fear at Starmer’s phrases, with Sarah Owen, the chair of the ladies and equalities committee, saying: “Chasing the tail of the suitable dangers taking our nation down a really darkish path.”

Zarah Sultana, who was elected as a Labour MP however now sits as an impartial, mentioned Starmer had put lives in danger by echoing Powell’s language, calling this “a shame”.

Starmer’s official spokesperson mentioned it was fallacious to check the prime minister’s warning about “an island of strangers” to Powell’s 1968 remarks that Britons have been being “made strangers in their very own nation”, pointing to how Starmer had additionally hailed the advantages of migration.

“We utterly reject that comparability,” he mentioned. “You heard the PM say in his speech yesterday that migrants make an enormous contribution to the nation. It’s each proper and honest to say that migrants have made an enormous contribution to our society for generations.

“However it is usually proper to say that, significantly within the 5 years between 2019 and 2024, seeing immigration ranges quadruple, the earlier authorities misplaced management of the system.

“We’re not going to draw back from this challenge, as a result of the British public rightly count on the federal government to get management of immigration in a approach that the earlier authorities misplaced management of immigration.”

He added: “The PM has been very clear, Britain is an inclusive nation. We have now welcomed immigrants for generations, however the degree of immigration over the previous few years has been too excessive, and migration should come down.”

Requested if Starmer stood by the phrases “island of strangers”, the spokesperson replied “sure”, including: “The prime minister was utilizing his personal phrases to rightly each recognise the contribution migrants have remodeled generations and to make the purpose that uncontrolled migration has been too excessive.”

He condemned Powell, saying that the PM “rejects, in its entirety, earlier speeches made by that particular person”.

Talking earlier on Tuesday, the house secretary, Yvette Cooper, mentioned Starmer’s phrases have been “utterly totally different” to these utilized by Powell.

“I don’t assume it’s proper to make these comparisons, I believe it’s utterly totally different,” she informed BBC Radio 4’s At present programme. “The prime minister mentioned yesterday, I believe nearly in the identical breath, he talked in regards to the various nation that we’re, and that being a part of our power.

“All people all the time will get caught up in specializing in totally different phrases … for those who have a look at what the prime minister mentioned yesterday, he talked about individuals who got here after the conflict to work within the UK, to construct a few of our providers, and the way necessary that was. However he additionally talked about how immigration needs to be correctly managed and managed, and it hasn’t been. I really assume it’s OK to have each these views.”