Why is Starmer starting rows before the election?

The Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has insisted he didn’t mean to cause ‘concern or offence’ when he called for more Bangladeshi asylum seekers to be deported. His comments – singling out Bangladesh as a place where more people could be returned to from the UK – have sparked uproar in the British-Bangladeshi community (traditionally Labour-supporting), as well as strong criticism from some of Starmer’s own MPs, councillors and activists. What exactly did the Labour leader say that has landed him in such hot water? Speaking specifically about people who come to the UK illegally, Starmer told the Sun newspaper: ‘I’ll make sure we get planes going off… back to the countries where people came from.’ This is when he raised the specific example of Bangladeshi migrants, saying: ‘at the moment people coming from countries like Bangladesh are not being removed’.

This prompted a furious response. Apsana Begum, the Labour candidate standing for re-election in the London constituency of Poplar and Limehouse, tweeted about ‘dog-whistle racism against Bangladeshis’. Begum, who is the daughter of Bangladeshi migrants, said that she would never stand by and let migrant communities be ‘scapegoated’ by any politicians. Councillor Sabina Akhtar, deputy leader of Tower Hamlets Labour, resigned over Starmer’s remarks. She said: ‘I was a proud Labour party member, but I find I cannot be proud of this party anymore when the leader singles out my community and insults my Bangladeshi identity.’ In Tower Hamlets, just over a third of the total borough population is of Bangladeshi origin. Mish Rahman, who sits on Labour’s National Executive Committee, accused Starmer of a ‘vicious approach’ towards ethnic minority communities.

Defending his comments, Starmer insisted that he was merely trying to give an example of a safe country where a returns agreement is in place. Last month the UK signed a deal  with Bangladesh to fast-track deportations. This aimed to make it easier to return  Bangladeshi nationals, including those convicted of offences, visa-overstayers and rejected asylum seekers. How big is the problem though when it comes to Bangladesh in particular?

The figures for the year ending March 2023 show a total of 67,377 applications for asylum were made in the UK, which related to 84,425 individuals (more than one applicant can be included in a single application).  The most common single nationality was Afghan (9,300), followed by Iranian (7,400), Pakistani (5,300), Indian (5,300). Bangladeshis were fifth on the list (4,300). 

What about those seeking to enter the UK via small boats? In 2023, the total number of people having entered the UK by crossing  the Channel was 29,437. As of 26 June this year, the total was 13,195 people – above the numbers for the same period in the previous four years. Afghans were the top nationality crossing the Channel, making up just under a fifth of all small boat arrivals in this period. Iranians (12 per cent) and Turkish nationals (11 per cent) were the next two most common nationalities to arrive this way. Bangladeshis are not even in the top ten nationalities. None of this is to say that Starmer is wrong to mention Bangladesh: there is nothing inherently wrong with looking closely at Bangladeshi migration, and in particular asylum applications, from a country that has a growing and successful economy. The problem for Starmer is that in specifically mentioning Bangladeshis rather than other nationalities he gives the impression – whatever he says – of picking on this nationality alone. 

It is also somewhat politically maladroit of Starmer to have allowed himself to get caught up in yet another high-profile row about his attitudes towards Muslim Labour voters – Bangladeshi or otherwise. His latest difficulties only highlight the problems the party is having in trying to win back the support of Muslim voters, many of whom feel alienated over Labour’s stance on the Israel-Gaza war. Data analysis conducted by ITV News after the local elections in May revealed Labour lost a third of its percentage vote share in areas that are Majority Muslim. The Muslim vote alone won’t cost Labour the election next week but this latest row shows some of the difficulties that lie ahead if and when Starmer becomes prime minister. In office, he will quickly find that talking openly about topics such as immigration and asylum will not best please some of those in his own ranks.