How Starmer went from ‘welcoming migrants’ to ‘parroting Reform’s scapegoating’

‘We welcome migrants.

‘We don’t scapegoat them. Low wages, poor housing, poor public services are not the fault of migrants and people who’ve come here: they’re political failure. Political failure.

‘So we have to make the case for the benefits of migration, the benefits of free movement.’

Keir Starmer spoke those words in January 2020, shortly before Brexit was delivered and the UK officially left the European Union. He was running for the Labour leadership at the time – a race he won just over two months later.

A board behind him featured his slogan: ‘Another future is possible’. Today, those words could be read as a caveat to his speech.

On Monday morning, Starmer gave a Downing Street press conference ahead of a new government white paper on immigration being released.

In it, he did anything but ‘make the case for the benefits of migration’ – instead, he argued the system is ‘contributing to the forces that are slowly pulling our country apart’ and migrants are putting ‘a downward pressure on wages’.

‘I am doing this because it is right, because it is fair, and because it is what I believe in,’ he said.

Yes, the PM did say immigrants to the UK make a ‘massive contribution’ and they are ‘part of Britain’s national story’.

But the line most people will remember came as he talked about the need for rules to be applied and followed: ‘Without them, we risk becoming an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together.’

This idea of an ‘island of strangers’ – implying many people who move to the UK from abroad have no interest in engaging with our communities and culture – has generated fierce backlash from figures on the left.

Zarah Sultana, who is currently suspended from Labour, said it echoed anti-immigrant politician Enoch Powell. Labour MP Nadia Whittome described the government’s language as ‘shameful and dangerous’ and said Monday’s speech ‘parroted Reform’s scapegoating’.

Starmer’s speeches from the past few years show his stance on immigration has been hardening since he became leader.

It’s difficult to ignore the context of this latest move, though. Nigel Farage’s Reform UK managed to outperform strong expectations at the English local elections last month, leaving Labour figures shaken.

They appear to have calculated that if the government succeeds in driving down legal and illegal immigration numbers, they’ll have removed Reform’s most powerful argument. It’s a big gamble to take on.

Starmer’s drive to show off his tough stance on migration continues today with a trip to Albania, with Downing Street saying he will ‘step up efforts to break the crime web fuelling illegal migration’.

Politicians and the media have been arguing all week about whether this kind of rhetoric actually lines up with the extent of the measures announced in Monday’s white paper.

But of course, the PM’s words on the issue matter.

Three moments from Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday afternoon stood out to show the situation Starmer and the government find themselves in.

Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader Liz Saville-Roberts stood up to suggest ‘the only principle he consistently defends is whichever he last heard in a focus group’.

She asked Starmer: ‘Is there any belief he holds which survives a week in Downing Street?’

The PM leapt up to fire back: ‘Yes, the belief that she talks rubbish.’

His comeback was described as ‘unbelievably and unnecessarily rude’ by former Tory foreign secretary James Cleverly, while Saville-Roberts said it ‘showed that my question struck a nerve’.

Later, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage stood up to say he thought Starmer was apparently ‘learning a very great deal from us’ after watching the speech.

The Prime Minister did not push back against that suggestion, but criticised Farage and his party’s MPs for not backing his government’s border security bill.

However, perhaps the most telling moment came right at the start, when Starmer lists the government’s achievements over the past week. Labour MPs tend to cheer on each item with a loud ‘hear, hear’.

The ‘historic trade deal with India’ and ‘landmark agreement with the United States’ both got a roar of approval from backbenchers.

In stark contrast, his reference to the Immigration White Paper received a very feeble reaction from the hundreds gathered behind the PM. Sometimes, silence can speak louder than words.

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