No 10 defends Starmer’s language on immigration likened to Enoch Powell speech

Downing Street has robustly defended Keir Starmer’s language on immigration, which has been likened to that utilized by Enoch Powell, rejecting the direct comparability however pronouncing the high minister would now not “shy away” from direct communicate in regards to the matter.

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

Asked in regards to the controversy on Tuesday, Sadiq Khan, the Labour mayor of London, stated he do not need used the word, whilst protecting Starmer’s broader way.

Alf Dubs, the Labour peer who arrived in the United Kingdom as a kid refugee fleeing the Nazis, additionally expressed alarm.

“I’m unhappy that we have senior politicians who use language which is reminiscent of Powell, and I’m sorry that Keir Starmer used some of the phrases that you’ve just quoted,” Dubs instructed LBC. “It’s not the sort of person he is, and I don’t think it’s what he actually believes in.”

Asked about Starmer’s phrases within the Senedd, the Welsh Labour chief, Eluned Morgan, stated: “I’m not going to use divisive language when it comes to immigration, that’s not the value we have in Welsh Labour.”

A Downing Street supply driven again in opposition to the MPs’ grievance of Starmer’s speech, wherein he additionally argued that the Conservatives’ option to immigration had finished “incalculable” harm to the rustic.

“Tough words and tough policy are required to solve tough problems,” they stated. “The Tories left immigration to run completely out of control, with 1 million people coming here in a single year. The electorate want us to get a grip of it. We will, and we won’t apologise for doing so.”

Speaking to LBC, Khan stated: “The sort of language I use is different to the language used by others. That’s not the sort of words I would use.”

He added that he idea Starmer used to be relating to “promises made by Brexiteers” and up to date prime ranges of migration, and now not “that contribution we make to this multicultural capital city and country”.

On Monday, a number of Labour MPs expressed fear at Starmer’s phrases, with Sarah Owen, the chair of the ladies and equalities committee, pronouncing: “Chasing the tail of the right risks taking our country down a very dark path.”

Zarah Sultana, who used to be elected as a Labour MP however now sits as an impartial, stated Starmer had put lives in danger by way of echoing Powell’s language, calling this “a disgrace”.

Starmer’s respectable spokesperson stated it used to be fallacious to check the high minister’s caution about “an island of strangers” to Powell’s 1968 remarks that Britons have been being “made strangers in their own country”, pointing to how Starmer had additionally hailed the advantages of migration.

“We completely reject that comparison,” he stated. “You heard the PM say in his speech yesterday that migrants make a massive contribution to the country. It is both right and fair to say that migrants have made a massive contribution to our society for generations.

“But it is also right to say that, particularly in the five years between 2019 and 2024, seeing immigration levels quadruple, the previous government lost control of the system.

“We’re not going to shy away from this issue, because the British public rightly expect the government to get control of immigration in a way that the previous government lost control of immigration.”

He added: “The PM has been very clear, Britain is an inclusive country. We have welcomed immigrants for generations, but the level of immigration over the last few years has been too high, and migration must come down.”

Asked if Starmer stood by way of the phrases “island of strangers”, the spokesperson spoke back “yes”, including: “The prime minister was using his own words to rightly both recognise the contribution migrants have made over generations and to make the point that uncontrolled migration has been too high.”

He condemned Powell, pronouncing that the PM “rejects, in its entirety, previous speeches made by that individual”.

Speaking previous on Tuesday, the house secretary, Yvette Cooper, stated Starmer’s phrases have been “completely different” to these utilized by Powell.

“I don’t think it’s right to make those comparisons, I think it’s completely different,” she instructed BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “The prime minister said yesterday, I think almost in the same breath, he talked about the diverse country that we are, and that being part of our strength.

“Everybody always gets caught up in focusing on different phrases … if you look at what the prime minister said yesterday, he talked about people who came after the war to work in the UK, to build some of our services, and how important that was. But he also talked about how immigration has to be properly controlled and managed, and it hasn’t been. I actually think it’s OK to have both those views.”