Sir Keir Starmer faced a growing backlash including from London MPs over his claim that Britain risks becoming an “island of strangers” if immigration levels are not cut.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Labour MP for Clapham & Brixton Hill, tore into the words used by the Prime Minister, as he unveiled migration reforms on Monday.
She stressed: “These migrants are not “strangers”, they are our friends, neighbours and family members.
“It is shameful that they are being scapegoated in this way.”
Former shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, MP for Hayes and Harlington, emphasied that he lived in “one of the most diverse communities in the country”.
He added: “We get along together pretty well with every section of the community making its contribution.
“Talk of an “island of strangers” shockingly echoes the divisive language of Enoch Powell”.”
Apsana Begum, MP for Poplar and Limehouse, also criticised Sir Keir for his words which were markedly different from language he has used in past years.
She said: “Suggesting that the UK risks becoming “an island of strangers” due to immigration, is a leaf out of the far-right’s playbook.”
Mr McDonnell and Ms Begum were suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party last July for voting against the two-child benefit cap, so currently sit as independent MPs.
Downing Street has rejected the claims against the Prime Minister but Home Secretary Yvette Cooper declined to repeat the “island of strangers” comment.
Seeking to explain his remark, the Home Secretary told BBC Breakfast: "I think part of the point that he (Sir Keir) is making is that we have to recognise people have come to the UK through generations to do really important jobs in our NHS, founding our biggest businesses, doing some of the most difficult jobs, but it's because that's important, the system has to be controlled and managed, and it just hasn't been."
Pressed on whether he knew that his language could be seen to have echoes of Powell’s claim, in his infamous 1968 “Rivers of Blood” speech, that immigration would mean “people find themselves made strangers in their own country,” she rejected the assertion.
The shift in the PM’s language has sparked growing speculation that he is adopting approaches heavily driven by response from focus groups and to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK surging in the polls including in London.
Luke Tryl, UK director of More in Common, said that Sir Keir’s line “we risk becoming an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together” was “a powerful one that chimes with the worry” that his organisation sees in focus groups, “that the pace/scale of immigration and lack of integration expectations undermines cohesion/identity/community”.
The Government’s plans, which are expected to reduce the number of people coming to the UK by up to 100,000 per year, include reforming work and study visas and requiring a higher level of English across all immigration routes.
But Monday’s proposals sparked concern from employers, particularly in the care sector, following the announcement that care worker visas would be scrapped
Other parties argued the proposals from Sir Keir, MP for Holborn and St Pancras, did not go far enough.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the Immigration White Paper was “so weak that it barely scratches the surface” as he pushed for a “binding annual cap on migration” and disapplying the Human Rights Act from immigration law, while fellow senior Tory Robert Jenrick claimed the UK already is an "island of strangers" in some places.
Mr Farage, whose Reform UK has focused heavily on immigration in its campaigns, said the Government “will not do what it takes to control our borders”.
