Reform’s immigration policy is “racist”, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
He was reacting after Nigel Farage‘s party said it would axe the right of migrants to apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR), ban anyone who is not a UK citizen from claiming benefits, and force those applying for UK citizenship to renounce other citizenship.
This policy could impact hundreds of thousands of people, although Reform has exempted EU citizens with settled status from its plans to ban migrant access to benefits and its policies on ILR.
Indefinite leave to remain is the status which grants legal migrants the ability to settle in the UK without the need to renew a visa every few years.
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Speaking to the BBC, the prime minister and Labour leader said: “Well, 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.”
But he did not condemn those supporting Reform UK.
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Sir Keir added: “No, I think there are plenty of people who either vote Reform or are thinking of voting Reform who are frustrated.
“They had 14 years of failure under the Conservatives, they want us to change things.
“They may have voted Labour a year ago, and they want the change to come more quickly. I actually do understand that.”
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He had said previously: “It is one thing to say we’re going to remove illegal migrants, people who have no right to be here. I’m up for that.
“It is a completely different thing to say we are going to reach in to people who are lawfully here and start removing them. They are our neighbours.
“They’re people who work in our economy. They are part of who we are. It will rip this country apart.”
Labour has proposed its own changes to indefinite leave to remain, although it does not appear to be retrospective like Reform’s.
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Responding to the prime minister on social media, Reform’s head of policy Zia Yusuf said “Labour’s new message to the British electorate just dropped:
“‘Pay hundreds of billions for foreign nationals to live off the state forever, or we’ll call you racist!'”
Polling released at the start of the Labour conference by Survation shows that 65% of party members think Labour is going in the wrong direction, 64% think Sir Keir has done badly since taking office and 53% think the party should change leader before the next general election.
Speaking to Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News, Housing Secretary Steve Reed defended his government’s record.
He claimed wages went up faster in 10 months under Labour compared to 10 years under the Conservatives.
But he claimed it “takes time” for improvements to really be felt by the public, “so we have to stay on course and not divert on the basis of one poll or another”.
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Mr Reed said that the “revolving door” of Tory leaders was one of the reasons for Labour’s tricky inheritance – and he was “absolutely” sure Sir Keir should lead the party into the next general election.
The minister went on to brand Mr Farage a “plastic” patriot after the Reform UK leader “begged” the US Congress to put sanctions on British workers.
