Keir Starmer is facing a Labour backlash over his crackdown on immigration as No10 furiously denied he was echoing Enoch Powell.
London mayor Sadiq Khan insisted he would not have used the phrase ‘island of strangers’ as the PM struggles to contain anger on his own benches.
Welsh Labour leader also repeatedly dodged endorsing Sir Keir’s words as she was grilled in the Senedd.
The premier is facing a barrage of criticism over his new approach – a dramatic shift from his previous stance as he tries to counter the poll threat from Reform.
Some have accused him of emulating Powell’s 1968 ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech, when the then-senior Tory said white British people could find themselves ‘strangers in their own country’ as a result of migration.
The White Paper yesterday pledged to toughen skills thresholds for visas, close the care work route, demand more fluent English, and make people wait a decade for full citizenship.
However, Sir Keir has flatly refused to set any hard cap or targets, instead merely stating there will be a ‘significant’ in numbers fall by the next election.
The chair of the Migration Advisory Committee has estimated that net long-term immigration will reduce from over 700,000 annually to ‘under 300,000 and probably closer to 250,000’.
It was already projected to drop to around 340,000 in the coming years. Details released by the Home Office indicated it expects the package to achieve a 98,000 reduction in arrivals.
Keir Starmer suggested uncontrolled immigration risked the UK becoming an ‘island of strangers’ as he unveiled proposals for curbing numbers yesterday
London mayor Sadiq Khan insisted he would not have used the phrase ‘island of strangers’ as the PM struggles to contain anger on his own benches
Labour MP Olivia Blake was among those raising alarm as Ms Cooper took questions in the Commons last night
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper rejected the criticism this morning saying the PM was pointing out the system ‘had to be controlled and managed’
Speaking to LBC this morning, Sir Sadiq said: ‘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 thought Sir Keir was referring to ‘promises made by Brexiteers’ and recent high levels of migration, and not ‘that contribution we make to this multicultural capital city and country.’
Asked how he felt when he heard the PM’s language, he said: ‘I read the White Paper and I understand the context of the White Paper, and those aren’t words that I would use.’
Under pressure to give her views in the Senedd, Baroness Morgan said: ‘Wales is a welcoming nation, I think we are very proud to be associated with the positive values that immigration can bring and contribute to our communities and societies and the vast contribution that they make to our public services.’
Challenged to distance herself from Sir Keir’s ‘language of division’, the peer replied: ‘I’m not going to use divisive language when it comes to immigration, that’s not the value we have in Welsh Labour.’
In the Commons last night, MPs condemned Sir Keir’s speech as ‘divisive and hostile’, saying it ‘legitimised the far-Right’.
Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell – currently suspended from the Labour whip – accused Sir Keir of being ‘shockingly divisive’ and ‘reflecting the language of Enoch Powell’.
In 1968 Powell was sacked from the Conservative frontbench and disowned by senior colleagues.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper rejected the comparison this morning saying the PM was pointing out the system ‘had to be controlled and managed’.
Asked by BBC Breakfast if she thought the language was ‘toxic, shameful or dangerous’, Ms Cooper said: ‘I don’t agree, no.
‘I think part of the point that he is making is that we have to recognise people have come to the UK through generations to do really important jobs in our NHS, founding our biggest businesses, doing some of the most difficult jobs.
‘But it’s because that’s important, the system has to be controlled and managed, and it just hasn’t been.’
The PM’s official spokesman robustly defended his words and brushed aside the similarity.
‘We completely reject that comparison,’ he told reporters.
Asked if Sir Keir was not worried about his language, the spokesman said: ‘Absolutely, the Prime Minister rejects those comparisons and absolutely stands behind the argument he was making that migrants make a massive contribution to our country, but migration needs to be controlled.’
Pressed on whether Sir Keir stood by his comments, the spokesman replied: ‘Yes.’
In his speech launching the White Paper yesterday, Sir Keir said: ‘Let me put it this way – nations depend on rules, fair rules.
‘Sometimes they’re written down, often they’re not, but either way, they give shape to our values, guide us towards our rights, of course, but also our responsibilities, the obligations we owe to each other.
‘Now in a diverse nation like ours, and I celebrate that, these rules become even more important.
‘Without them, we risk becoming an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together.’
Labour MP Olivia Blake was among those raising alarm as Ms Cooper took questions in the Commons last night.
‘Does the Secretary of State agree with me that far from being strangers, migrants are our neighbours, friends and family, an integral part and members of our communities, and that moves to cast them as strangers are both divisive and hostile, and risk legitimising the same far-right violence we saw in last year’s summer riots? Have we learnt nothing?’ she asked.
Labour’s Nadia Whittome swiped that Sir Keir was trying to ‘ape Reform’.
Outside the House, she added: ‘The step-up in anti-migrant rhetoric from the Government is shameful and dangerous.
Labour’s Nadia Whittome swiped that Sir Keir was trying to ‘ape Reform’
Details released by the Home Office indicated it expects the package to achieve a 98,000 reduction in arrivals
Nigel Farage has said the government ‘will not do what it takes to control our borders’
‘Migrants are our neighbours, friends and family. To suggest that Britain risks becoming ‘an island of strangers’ because of immigration mimics the scaremongering of the far-right.’
Labour MP for Luton North Sarah Owen warned that ‘chasing the tail of the right risks taking our country down a very dark path’.
She said: ‘I am proud of what immigrants like my mum and those across Luton North have given to our country.
‘The best way to avoid becoming an ‘island of strangers’ is investing in communities to thrive – not pitting people against each other.
‘I’ve said it before and will say it again: chasing the tail of the right risks taking our country down a very dark path.’
