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Times
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Times
Labour upset over Starmer's ‘island of strangers' speech regret
Sir Keir Starmer is facing fresh criticism from ministers after saying he 'deeply regrets' warning that Britain risked becoming an 'island of strangers' without tough curbs on migration. The prime minister was criticised for the speech in May in which he appeared to echo Enoch Powell's infamous 'rivers of blood' speech in 1968. Powell claimed Britain's white population would be 'strangers in their own country'. After the speech, the prime minister's official spokesman said he 'absolutely stands by' the language, which included a warning that mass immigration had done 'incalculable damage' to the economy. • Echoes of Enoch Powell drown out Labour's migrant message A succession of ministers defended the prime minister's choice of language in the days after the speech. However, in an interview with his biographer Tom Baldwin in The Observer, Starmer said he regretted the speech. He said: 'I wouldn't have used those words if I had known they were, or even would be, interpreted as an echo of Powell. I had no idea — and my speechwriters didn't know either. But that particular phrase — no, it wasn't right. I'll give you the honest truth: I deeply regret using it.' • How vampire bats explain Keir Starmer's 'strangers' A minister said: 'I don't understand why he's apologising now after we all went out of our way to defend him at the time. It doesn't make any sense. Why is he doing it?' Starmer also conceded there were 'problems with his language' after he said that record numbers of migrants entering Britain under the last government had done 'incalculable damage'. • Immigration to UK 'will fall by 100,000 a year' under new rules In his speech in May, Starmer said: 'Let me put it this way. Nations depend on rules, fair rules. Sometimes they are written down, often they are 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. In a diverse nation like ours … we risk becoming an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together.' The comments were criticised at the time by Labour MPs. Sarah Owen, chair of the women and equalities committee, who is of Malaysian-Chinese heritage, said: 'Chasing the tail of the right risks taking our country down a dark path. The best way to avoid becoming an 'island of strangers' is investing in communities to thrive, not pitting people against each other.' Nadia Whittome, another Labour MP, said the rhetoric was 'shameful and dangerous'. She said: 'To suggest Britain risks becoming 'an island of strangers' because of immigration mimics the scaremongering of the far right.'
Telegraph
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Starmer has failed at the first political hurdle
Next week marks the first anniversary of Labour's 2024 election victory. At the time, many commentators called it 'historic'. Even if Labour's winning vote – both in numbers and percentage – was one of the lowest in modern times, the party's parliamentary majority of 174 was indeed among the largest ever. A year on, however, and it is difficult to point to a single achievement for future historians to compare with those of the Attlee, Wilson or Blair administrations. In fact, the conviction is hardening, even among Sir Keir Starmer's loyalists, that the party's first year in office has been wasted. Even worse, the Prime Minister gives the impression of a man who has lost his way. His policies, strategy and tactics swing about wildly, almost from day to day. Last month he talked tough on migration, setting his face against allowing Britain to become 'an island of strangers'. Yesterday, he confessed in an interview that had no idea that his most memorable phrase was an echo of the jeremiads of Enoch Powell: ' I deeply regret using it.' It has been a similar story across the board: a prime minister who appeals to the public one minute and then protests that he did not mean a word of it. Or who claims to be unshakeable until the polls persuade him to ditch his policy and his comrades. Notoriously, he changed sides on transgender and other culture war issues. This month alone, he has U-turned on grooming gangs, by conceding a national inquiry, and on winter fuel payments. At first he backed Israel, but only until it became inconvenient to do so. On Iran, his position is so muddled that his own ministers are reduced to speechlessness. His tergiversations on foreign affairs have prompted the US and other allies to leave us in the dark at a crucial time. But the most obvious case in point is welfare. If a Labour prime minister with a large majority cannot reform welfare, what is the point of him? Having initially promised to get a grip on the ballooning cost of disability and sickness benefits, Sir Keir backed what was trumpeted as a 'welfare reform', though in truth it was merely a modest package of cuts. Even this feeble attempt to slow the rate of increase, however, was enough to provoke cries of betrayal from the massed ranks of the Parliamentary Labour Party. After over 120 backbenchers had threatened to rebel when the Bill returns to the Commons next Tuesday, the Prime Minister lost his nerve. After days of disarray, with briefings flying in all directions, he finally caved in, watered down the Bill and mortgaged his own political future to the rebels. The net effect of Sir Keir's concessions is to reduce the promised savings by some estimates by more than half, from about £5 billion by 2030 to perhaps just £2 billion. The balance will have to be found from higher taxes, more borrowing or both. But these numbers are merely a fraction of the sums that Rachel Reeves will have to find in her next Budget, just a few months from now. At the Nato summit, the Prime Minister was bounced into a pledge to raise defence spending at a faster rate than at any time since the Cold War. Yet at present, we are spending more on sickness and disability benefits (£65 billion) than on defence (£57 billion). Next week the 10 Year Health Plan will put the focus back on the NHS, on which spending has risen rapidly without reducing waiting lists significantly. Despite (or because of) inflation-busting deals to end the strikes, doctors are still demanding huge pay rises. Meanwhile the economy is crippled by the effects of another Starmer U-turn: the hike in employers' National Insurance contributions, breaking a solemn manifesto promise. Together with the extension of inheritance tax to farmers, family businesses and pensions, this is blighting the prospect of serious growth. The middle classes are squeezed by the effects of fiscal drag, with seven million people now paying higher rate income tax, and by VAT on school fees. Not only has this been a wasted year, but Labour's legacy threatens to turn Britain into a wasteland. It was Sir Keir Starmer's duty to tackle welfare, as only a man of the Left could. He has failed. The rest is silence.
The Independent
14 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Starmer shares ‘deep regret' over divisive immigration comment after arson attack
Sir Keir Starmer expressed deep regret for using the phrase "island of strangers" in an immigration speech, admitting the language "wasn't right." In an interview with The Observer, the Labour leader said he was "not in the best state" to deliver the press conference, which took place hours after an alleged arson attack on his family home. The controversial phrase, used on 12 May, drew immediate comparisons to Enoch Powell 's divisive 1968 speech and sparked significant backlash. Sir Keir clarified he had no intention of echoing Powell's rhetoric and that neither he nor his speechwriters were aware of the potential interpretation. He took responsibility for not reviewing the speech more thoroughly, despite being shaken by the incident at his home.
BBC News
15 hours ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Starmer says he regrets using 'island of strangers' phrase
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said he regrets saying the UK risked becoming "an island of strangers" in a speech about prime minister was accused by some critics of using divisive language when he made a speech to announce plans to cut immigration in MPs compared Sir Keir's remarks to those made by former MP Enoch Powell in a well-known speech about immigration in the time, Downing Street rejected the comparison and said the PM stood by his words and his view that "migration needs to be controlled". But in an interview with his biographer, Tom Baldwin, Sir Keir said: "I wouldn't have used those words if I had known they were, or even would be interpreted as an echo of Powell."I had no idea – and my speechwriters didn't know either."But that particular phrase – no – it wasn't right. I'll give you the honest truth: I deeply regret using it."The interview was published in the Observer newspaper ahead of Sir Keir's one-year anniversary since becoming prime minister next Keir's comments suggest neither he nor his speechwriters were aware of any similarity to a line in Powell's 1968 that speech, Powell described a future in which Britons "found themselves made strangers in their own country".It is widely known as the Rivers of Blood speech because of Powell's reference to "the River Tiber foaming with much blood", when setting out his fears about immigration. In the Observer interview, Sir Keir said he made the speech on immigration not long after an alleged arson attack on his family home in London."It's fair to say I wasn't in the best state to make a big speech," Sir Keir said. "I was really, really worried."He said his wife Victoria was "really shaken up", adding "it was just a case of reading the words out and getting through it somehow".The Observer article quotes Sir Keir as saying he should have read through the speech properly and "held it up to the light a bit more".Responding to the interview, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the PM's admission of regret at using the phrase was "absolute proof that Keir Starmer has no beliefs, no principles and just reads from a script"."This country needs a leader who has vision," Farage posted. The comparison to Powell was made by John McDonnell, who lost the Labour whip last year after rebelling on a welfare in Parliament in May, the independent MP said: "When legislation of this nature is being introduced that is serious and could be contentious, it's critically important that ministers use careful language."When the prime minister referred to... an island of strangers, reflecting the language of Enoch Powell, does she realise how shockingly divisive that could be?"In the same debate, Labour MP Nadia Whittome said immigrants were being "scapegoated for problems that they didn't cause" and that "the rhetoric surrounding this" risked stirring racial MP asked: "Why are we trying to ape Reform, when that will do nothing to improve our constituents' lives and just stoke more division?"Home Secretary Yvette Cooper later defended the language used by Sir said Starmer's speech was "completely different" to Powell's, telling the BBC: "I don't think it's right to make those comparisons."The prime minster said yesterday, I think almost in the same breath, talked about the diverse country that we are and that being part of our strength."I know that everybody always gets caught up in focusing on different phrases and so on, but we do have to be talking about the policies."The launch of the government's immigration plan in May followed local elections in England earlier this month that saw Labour lose the Runcorn and Helsby parliamentary seat to Reform UK.
Daily Mirror
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
Starmer admits he 'deeply regrets' his 'island of strangers' immigration remark
Keir Starmer said he and his advisors were unaware of similarities between his words and Enoch Powell's vile Rivers of Blood speech - saying he said it hours after his family home was targeted by arsonists Keir Starmer has said he "deeply regrets" warning the UK was at risk of becoming an "island of strangers". The PM made the remark in a press conference just hours after his family home was attacked by arsonists. The words sparked a fierce backlash amid comparisons to notorious Tory racist Enoch Powell, who said white people were set to become 'strangers in their own country' in 1968. In an interview with The Observer, Mr Starmer said he would not have used the phrase if he or his advisors were aware of the similarities. He said using the words "wasn't right" and conceded: "I'll give you the honest truth: I deeply regret using it.' The PM admitted he should have read through the speech more carefully and 'held it up to the light a bit more' before delivering it. He said he was "really, really worried" after the arson attack, and his wife Vic was "really shaken up" - prompting him to consider calling the press conference off. READ MORE: Tory MP launches astonishing attack on Kemi Badenoch after staggering Commons blunder He said he just wanted to "get back" to his loved ones as quickly as he could as he unveiled a white paper setting out plans to drive down net migration. The PM recounted: "It's fair to say I wasn't in the best state to make a big speech." But he said the fault was his own, stating: "I wouldn't have used those words if I had known they were, or even would be interpreted as an echo of Powell." The PM also accepted there were 'problems with the language' in his foreword to an immigration white paper which said the high level of arrivals had done "incalculable damage" to the country. In the days that followed the PM was accused of making "shameful" remarks. Labour peer Alf Dubs, who fled the Nazis as a child, said: "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.' Three men have been charged over the attack on the PM's family home in North London, which was being rented by the PM's sister-in-law and her partner. Mr Starmer said it could have been a "different story' if his wife's sister had not been awake and able to call the fire brigade. Ukrainian nationals Petro Pochynok and Roman Lavrynovych, as well as Ukrainian-born Romanian national Stanislav Carpiuc are accused of conspiring to endanger life. In the days before the attack on the PM's family home, a flat he had previously lived at and a car close to his home were also targeted.
