Starmer Talks Tough on Migration, but Who Now Is Listening?

Britons are being asked again this week to forget years of betrayal by establishment parties who say one thing and do the opposite, and to accept that border control really is about to be taken seriously.

In a desperate attempt to stem the rise of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which gave the main parties a proper beating at recent local elections, Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer is trying to sound tough on migration. Whether his actions will match this talk is another (totally unimaginable) matter. As political academic Matthew Goodwin put it, a “big shift in ‘the vibes’” is one thing, but an actual shift in policy is quite different.

He said on Monday that mass migration means Britain risks becoming an “island of strangers”; that Labour will now end the “failed experiment in open borders” and “take back control” (!). This is exactly the sort of talk Farage and co. was being hounded for—particularly by Labour types—all of what feels like five minutes ago.

Plans drawn out in a new immigration white paper include raising English language requirements across all types of visas, as well as skill requirements for foreign workers, and doubling the “standard qualifying period” to gain citizenship to 10 years.

But Farage stressed that Labour “will not do what it takes to control our borders” after the PM said his government would not withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights in order to get a grip of illegal migration. Indeed, officials are about to recommit the UK to the convention, which migrants have successfully appealed to in order to stay in the country after committing crimes.

The government will apparently tighten legislation allowing courts to grant asylum to foreign criminals based on the ECHR in “exceptional circumstances,” (which doesn’t exactly mean much).

Reports also highlighted that by the time Starmer delivered his speech on Monday, hundreds of migrants had already crossed the Channel to Britain on small boats that morning, taking the total for the year so far to more than 12,000.

On legal migration, too, the Conservatives have criticised Labour for failing to announce a specific net migration target, which is rich given they spent about a decade riding roughshod over their own “tens of thousands” pledge.

Starmer accepted that an establishment failure to stick to promises on migration had resulted in public “cynicism,” to which it would surprise no one for him to contribute further towards.