Labour conference has begun this weekend in Liverpool under something of a cloud. The run-up to the five-day shindig has been dominated by questions about old donations and Andy Burnham’s intentions. A slew of poor polls suggest the party has gone badly off track after 14 months in office. But following a summer in which many of his party felt that he had gone missing in action, Keir Starmer appears to now be channeling Donald Trump’s mantra: fight, fight, fight. The Prime Minister used an interview with the BBC this morning to come out swinging, taking aim at his critics both inside and outside the Labour party. It is an approach that will resonate with some of his demoralised backbenchers who are, in the words of one, ‘waiting for a lead’.
Starmer was asked by Laura Kuenssberg about Reform’s plan to scrap Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), announced on Monday. Did he consider the proposal, which would abolish the right of migrants to qualify for permanent settlement in the UK after five years, to be ‘immoral’? ‘Yes’, he replied, declaring that ‘we are a proud, tolerant country’. The Prime Minister suggested it was one thing to ‘remove illegal migrants – I’m up for that,’ but it’s a ‘completely different thing, to reach into people who are lawfully here and start removing them’. Suggesting that ‘the fight with Reform is different’ from traditional political scraps, Starmer said, ‘I do think that it is a racist policy. I do think it is immoral. It needs to be called out for what it is’. That is a marked shift in tone from anything said by other frontbenchers in media interviews over the past six days.
Some within Labour argue that the party can never outflank Reform
Starmer’s description of Reform’s deportation plan as ‘immoral’ and ‘racist’ is the fiercest criticism that he has made of Nigel Farage’s party to date. His punchy remarks fit with other comments in the rest of his interview. He told Kuenssberg that his critics should stop ‘navel gazing’ and ‘give me space’. I will be ‘rightly judged’ at the end of his five-year mandate, he insisted. Burnham was dismissed with a lordly refusal to mention him by name. ‘Comments about leaders and leadership are part and parcel of being in politics. It is the bread and butter of politics,’ sniffed Starmer. ‘Every leader gets it. It’s in the job description. I don’t focus on that. I focus on what we’ve got to get done.’ He ended with a clarion call for the party faithful to focus on ‘the fight of our lives ahead of us, because we have got to beat Reform’.
Farage’s party has already hit back hard. They suggest that Labour do not believe in border controls – and think who do are ‘racist’. Starmer was careful not to use this word to describe Reform’s voters in the interview, suggesting that ‘there are plenty of people who vote Reform or thinking of voting Reform who are frustrated’. His comments today will be welcomed by much of his party – but they risk being weaponised by opponents who suggest Starmer is indifferent to migration concerns. Some within Labour argue that the party can never outflank Reform and that they should draw a line in the sand after Farage’s announcement on Monday.
It will be telling to see whether Starmer’s ‘racist’ jibe is adopted by others – and if it heralds the beginning of a more assertive strategy towards Reform UK.
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