Starmer faces opposition from labor lawmakers and employers on immigration transfer | Immigration and asylum
Keir Starmer wrote in 2020: “We must never accept the Conservative or media narrative that often scapegoats and demonizes immigration. The problems of low wages, housing and public services are not caused by immigration – they are caused by failed economic models.”
A lot has changed since Starmer runs into the Labor leader – especially as prime minister, he now has a wider range of voters to stay consistent.
His aides argue that he has long made justifications for the tougher rules of immigration, but the rise of British reform and the success of Nigel Farage among the disillusioned voters of the political mainstream have added a new political imperative.
Starmer warned on Monday when announcing his new immigration policy that Britain risked a “Stranger Island” without strengthening its attitude and said the government would “take back control of our borders” and close the book on the “dirty chapters” of rising introverted immigration.
For those who think he has been too far away to his rights in response to support for reforming Britain, his remarks on immigration will bite people.
Labour MP Sarah Owen, who is on the soft left of the party, said the best way to avoid Britain being a “stranger island” is to invest in communities to make them flourish.
“I’ve said it before and say it again: Chasing the right risks puts our country on a very dark path,” she warned.
“The escalation of anti-immigration speech by the government is shameful and dangerous,” said Nadia Whittome, a labor MP in eastern Nottingham.
“Immigration is our neighbors, friends and family. It is implied that the UK may have been terrifying because of immigration that mimics the far right.”
Others go further. Zarah Sultana, an independent MP who was suspended for her voting to repeal the welfare cap for two, accused Starmer of imitating Enoch Powell's infamous “River of Descent” speech.
However, insiders in Downing Street rejected the criticism, insisting that the Prime Minister knew immigration was part of the British national story, but he believed that more control was needed and that higher expectations should be given to those who arrived at the British integration.
The aide noted that the focus group showed voters were concerned about net immigration scale (which reached over 900,000 under the former Conservative government), especially the impact on community cohesion.
“The truth is that people really care about high levels of immigration and we want to make the system more fair,” said one No Nosecement. This issue is particularly prominent among the workforce voters who have transformed into reform.
Labor aides say the government is motivated by the public's perception of immigration. But they also know that their election destiny depends to some extent on whether they can significantly reduce the numbers. Net migration was 728,000 for the 12 months ended June 2024.
Official Home Office estimates show that under the new immigration method, there could be a 100,000 reduction in people entering the UK each year. The forecast suggests that by 2029, net migration could be as low as 300,000.
However, Starmer avoids chasing what he calls “arbitrary, unexecutable and unachievable” goals. But he has to be more than just someone pushing the numbers to the left.
He also has to convince employers that they believe immigration policies are preventing businesses from gaining key skills to provide investments that put jobs and growth at risk.
Rachel Reeves is on hand to help. On a trip to Washington in May 2023, she gave a speech that she articulated the British version of the double-spectroscopy, responding to the speech with the language of the former U.S. president on economic nationalism.
Since then, Reeves (now Prime Minister) has repeatedly focused on the need for businesses to invest in domestic labor, rather than relying on cheap labor from abroad.
On Monday, Starmer made it clear that higher levels of immigration, especially low-skilled workers, did not actually promote economic growth. He told reporters: “There is no such link.”
No 10 officials are expected to require the office to assume budgetary responsibility, which now treats immigration as net income affirmed by the economy over five years to study its conclusions again.
“When people start to age and rely on the country, their calculations do not take into account the long-term costs of the community,” one said. “We all take immigration seriously and its impact on the economy.”