Sir Keir Starmer has rejected the comparability to Enoch Powell after he mentioned the UK was vulnerable to changing into an “island of strangers” if migration doesn’t come down.
The prime minister’s official spokesperson mentioned migrants have made a “massive contribution” to society however the Tories “lost control of the system” and that’s the level he was making.
The comment has drawn criticism from Labour backbenchers, who’ve in contrast it to the late Conservative MP’s inflammatory 1968 “Rivers of Blood” speech.
Within the speech, Mr Powell imagined a future multicultural Britain the place the white inhabitants would discover themselves “strangers in their own country” on account of migration.
Amongst these to make the comparability was the previous shadow chancellor John McDonnell, who mentioned on X that “Talk of an “island of strangers” shockingly echoes the divisive language of Enoch Powell”.
Nevertheless, the prime minister’s spokesperson mentioned: “The PM rejects this comparison. He said that migrants have made a massive contribution to society.
“It’s also proper to say that between 2019 and 2024, the earlier authorities misplaced management of the system. Migration must be managed, truthful and people who come right here ought to combine.”
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Enoch Powell. Pic: PA
Requested why the prime minister used such sturdy language, the spokesperson mentioned he was not going to “shy away” from the difficulty of immigration and the British public need it to be decreased.
He added: “We have welcomed immigrants for decades, but it’s too high and must come down. Also, it’s important for our domestic skills system, which is good for our economy.”
What has the federal government introduced?
The package deal is aimed toward decreasing the variety of folks coming to the UK by as much as 100,000 per yr, although the federal government has not formally set a goal.
Who was Enoch Powell?
Enoch Powell was a Tory MP and the shadow defence secretary within the Nineteen Sixties when a debate was raging about post-war immigration to Britain.
By the late Nineteen Sixties, a whole bunch of hundreds of Commonwealth residents had exercised their authorized proper and settled in Britain, and it led to a quiet clampdown by the Labour authorities on immigration.
On 20 April 1968, Powell rose to his toes at a gathering of the Conservative Political Centre in Birmingham and declared Britons had “found themselves made strangers in their own country”.
Powell went on to say it had led to a scarcity of hospital beds, college locations, and “homes and neighbourhoods changed beyond recognition”.
He was swiftly kicked out of the shadow cupboard.
Internet migration – the distinction between the variety of folks immigrating and emigrating to a rustic – soared when the UK left the EU in January 2020.
It reached 903,000 within the yr to June 2023 earlier than falling to 728,000 in mid-2024. However that’s nonetheless nicely above its pre-Brexit excessive of 329,000 within the yr as much as June 2015.
Sir Keir mentioned components of the UK’s economic system “seem almost addicted to importing cheap labour” quite than investing in expertise at residence.
Nevertheless, it’s not clear how the federal government plans to spice up the home workforce, amid a UK expertise scarcity and report numbers of individuals being out of labor.
In line with the ONS, there are 9.2 million folks of working age within the UK who’re economically inactive, together with 1.8m 18-24 yr olds.
The prime minister’s spokesperson mentioned the federal government is “focused on upskilling British workers” and “especially helping young people in the job sector” however didn’t elaborate how.
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PM’s ‘robust’ migration insurance policies defined
On care houses, he mentioned, round 40,000 care employees came visiting on visas for jobs that didn’t exist, and firms can recruit from that pool.
Earlier, quite a lot of Labour MPs got here to the prime minister’s defence. Rother Valley MP Jake Richards mentioned on X that Sir Keir is “absolutely right to warn of the risk of becoming an ‘island of strangers’.
“Thousands and thousands of individuals throughout the nation have comparable considerations. This theme should be central to missions throughout immigration, employment, work and tackling neighbourhood deprivation,” he said.
However former Labour home secretary Lord David Blunkett criticised the rhetoric, saying in a speech at a University of Law graduation ceremony: “I by no means felt I lived in, or had a component to play in, a rustic of strangers.
“I thought welcoming people from across the world was a tribute to our society, where people want to make their homes, to build a life and their economy and to contribute to our society.
“I believe we have to be variety to one another, however we want a a lot kinder nationwide world as nicely.”
