Keir Starmer’s shift to the right to combat Nigel Farage threat is ‘utterly doomed’, union boss warns
Sir Keir Starmer has warned that Labor’s move to the right to combat the rise of Reform UK is “doomed to complete failure” and will not help the party stay in power at the next election, while union leaders have warned the prime minister against “selling out” his principles.
Labour’s poll ratings have fallen since the general election, with the rise of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK coming partly as a result of concerns about the impact of immigration, both legal and through small boat crossings.
But Matt Wrack, the chairman of one of Britain’s largest teaching unions, accused Sir Keir of “caving in to an agenda set by a far-right and populist agenda” and warned that the prime minister could “never leave Farage behind”.
British Medical Association president Dr. Tom Dolphin expressed concern that tough immigration policies would cause problems for the NHS, which is highly dependent on migrant workers, arguing that the prime minister should “stick to his core principles and not sell them out for votes”.
He accused Sir Keir of “chasing right-wing votes in a way that causes division in society” and makes Britain feel “more anxious and divided”.
The Prime Minister faces the same predicament Rishi Sunak faced with a split-vote coalition before his brutal general election defeat, a leading pollster has suggested, and warned that relying solely on tough rhetoric will not work.
Keiran Pedley, a pollster at Ipsos, said it would be “naive” to think Labor should not tackle immigration, given it is the number one issue among voters, but warned there were “a lot of more progressive left-leaning voters who don’t like it”.
The leader of Unite, a major Labor-backing union, warned in July that he could cut ties with the party, leaving Labor without a major donor it had previously relied on.
As Reform UK surged ahead in the polls, the government pursued an increasingly right-wing agenda as it launched a major crackdown on immigration and stepped up its rhetoric.
In May the prime minister was criticized for using language imitating Enoch Powell in a controversial immigration speech when he said Britain was at risk of becoming an “island of strangers”.
The government has since announced sweeping reforms to the asylum system, including the provisionalization of refugee status; so people will be repatriated when it is safe.
Ministers are also considering requiring some asylum seekers to contribute to the cost of supporting themselves; He takes as an example Denmark’s “jewelry law,” which allows authorities to seize refugees’ valuables; This policy is also supported by far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
Earlier this month, Sir Keir called on European leaders to reexamine how the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is being interpreted to combat illegal immigration and curb the rise of the far right.
Sir Keir’s political opponents, the Conservatives and Reform UK, have said they would leave the ECHR if they came to power.
The Prime Minister’s approach to immigration since taking office marks a remarkable turnaround in the last five years from his time as Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow immigration secretary, who promoted open borders and three years ago when he claimed those raising immigration as an issue were “racists”.
Asked whether a shift to the right could win voters’ support, Mr Wrack said: Independent this is “a strategy doomed to complete failure and, frankly, ridiculous.”
He said: “Keir Starmer will never surpass Farage, Farage. No matter how far Keir Starmer or Shabana Mahmood go on immigration, Nigel Farage will take the opportunity and go further.”
The union boss accused the Labor government of “legitimizing Farage’s claims that we face existential threats from people fleeing wars around the world and that they have accepted a far-right and populist agenda rather than standing up for integrity.”
“They can’t win this war. They just can’t win.”
And Dr Dolphin said: “I think it’s probably up to Labour’s strategy to be mapped out. I would say that as a party, like a union, you have to stick to your core principles and not sell them out to get votes.”
He continued: “Some policies put forward by both the government and the opposition seek right-wing votes in a way that leads to division in society.
“That makes people who live here, even people who were born here, not feel welcome in their own country. That makes society feel more anxious and divided, and that’s not good for us as a country, not good for us as a society.”
“As a society, we must try to be closer, not to divide ourselves, to exclude people. Some of the policies being followed will worsen this situation and will ultimately not be in the best interest of this country.”
Dr Dolphin warned that Reform UK’s proposed immigration policies would make it more difficult for the NHS to function.
“In the NHS we are very dependent on workforce from abroad, both doctors and other staff in the NHS and social care.
“And the policies proposed by Reformation will make it much more difficult for this workforce to come to the UK and we are not yet self-sufficient in producing our own doctors, nurses and sufficient numbers of our own to fill this gap,” he said.
Mr Pedley said Independent Sir Keir faces a “real strategic challenge”, arguing Labor must find a way to tackle immigration “without alienating younger, more progressive voters who are more than happy to shop around”.
The Ipsos pollster said if the government wants polls to rebound, it needs to demonstrate a “sustained period” of its policies being successful rather than relying on rhetoric alone.
“The pace of change is not fast enough right now to convince voters,” he warned.
10 has been contacted for comment.
