Diane Abbott hasn’t held back in her latest comments about Prime Minister Keir Starmer, accusing him of echoing far-right talking points and calling his immigration speech “fundamentally racist.” Speaking to a cheering crowd at an anti-austerity rally, the long-standing Labour MP shared just how disturbed she was by Starmer’s recent language on migration.
The controversy stems from a speech Starmer gave last month, where he outlined Labour’s plans to cut the number of migrants coming to the UK. His comments included the now widely criticised line warning that Britain could become “an island of strangers.” While he claimed to celebrate the country’s diversity, his critics felt otherwise.
According to GB News, Abbott was crystal clear in her reaction. “I thought that was a fundamentally racist thing to say, in contrast to Britain’s history,” she told the crowd. “My parents came to this country in the 50s. They were not strangers; they helped to build this country.” She also dismissed the idea that mimicking Reform UK was the way forward, saying bluntly, “Keir Starmer is quite wrong to say that the way you beat Reform is to copy Reform.”
The former shadow home secretary also didn’t hold back on another part of Starmer’s speech, where he claimed immigration had caused “incalculable damage to this green and pleasant land.” Abbott called the statement “nonsense” and reminded everyone of the massive contribution immigrants have made to the UK.
“Immigrants built this land, built this society,” she declared to loud applause. She warned that the fight against austerity and racism extends beyond just party lines, saying there’s a global struggle “to fight the rich and the powerful [and] to fight the racists,” even within her party.
She wrapped up her speech with a call for unity: “We have to stand against these cuts, we have to stand against the austerity budget, and by coming together today, rallying together, we will win.”
Thousands turned out for the rally, made up of trade unionists, activists and campaigners. The event was organised to protest the government’s welfare reforms ahead of the upcoming spending review.
As the backlash to Starmer’s remarks continues, his spokesperson insisted he stood by what he said. “The prime minister has made the argument that migrants make a massive contribution to the UK and have done for generations, not least those who came after the war,” the spokesperson said. But he added that “it is also reasonable to recognise that uncontrolled migration of recent years has put pressure on public services.” He was also keen to distance Starmer from controversial figures of the past, saying the PM “rejects previous speeches” made by Enoch Powell.
Abbott, meanwhile, has become one of Starmer’s most vocal internal critics in recent months. After surviving an attempt by the Labour leadership to block her from standing in the last election, she’s aimed at the PM multiple times.
From accusing him of having “no feel for politics” over the Waspi women’s issue to claiming he treated her like a “non-person” when a Tory donor made a vile remark about her, Abbott has made it clear she won’t stay silent.
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