Starmer tries to talk tough on immigration

When Keir Starmer went on the offensive at Prime Minister’s Questions earlier this month over the issue of small boat crossings, it was taken as a statement of intent: the Labour leader was willing to go on the offensive over topics on which his party had traditionally been vulnerable in the eyes of the electorate. This morning, Starmer laid out his vision for immigration more generally. Speaking at the CBI conference in Birmingham, the Labour leader has warned that the days of ‘cheap labour’ and ‘immigration dependency’ must end: ‘Our common goal must be to help the British economy off its immigration dependency. To start investing more in training up workers who are already here.’

Starmer said Labour would achieve this with a plan to train up British workers, thereby leading to higher wages. However, while Starmer was at pains to talk tough, he ultimately said Labour would adopt a ‘pragmatic’ approach to immigration – suggesting that the UK ought to let in skilled foreign workers. The promise of teaching British workers new skills while allowing foreign workers into the UK where required isn’t exactly ground-breaking. What’s more, Starmer is not committing to reducing immigration levels overall – rather he is talking about it going down in certain sectors. 

But the fact Starmer wants to lean into the idea that Labour is adopting a tougher line on immigration points to a wider shift in the party under his leadership. During his leadership campaign, Starmer veered to the left to secure votes. He said: ‘We have to make the case for freedom of movement, and we have to make it strongly.’ But since then, Starmer has distanced himself from the idea of freedom of movement – and at Labour conference this year said his party backed a points-based system for immigration. He’s also toughened his rhetoric on climate activists going too far and on some aspects of trans rights. As Starmer