A Labour peer has said that the prime minister’s language on migration is “reminiscent” of that used by Enoch Powell.
Lord Alf Dubs, a former child refugee who fled the Nazis before the Second World War, said that he is “sorry… Keir Starmer used some of the phrases quoted” in his major speech on immigration earlier this week, adding that the stance adopted does not reflect the “sort of person he is”.
The influential life peer, who fled the Nazis on the Kindertransport in 1939, told The News Agents podcast: “I think that migration into this country has been beneficial. Maybe the numbers are too high now, I think they are.
“But the story of migration is that it has been positively helpful and has filled vacancies in jobs, provided skills we need, and generally made us a decent society.”
Starmer has faced criticism for his comment that the UK risks becoming an “island of strangers” if migration remains unchecked, delivered as he announced plans to curb the number of legal migrants coming into the country.
Speaking at a Monday morning news conference, the PM said his government would “take back control of our borders” and close the book on a “squalid chapter” of rising inward migration as he unveiled a major crackdown.
He added: “Nations depend on rules, fair rules. Sometimes they are written down, often they are not, but either way, they give shape to our values, guide us towards our rights, of course, but also our responsibilities, the obligations we owe to each other.
“In a diverse nation like ours, and I celebrate that, these rules become even more important. Without them, we risk becoming an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together.”
***Politics.co.uk is the UK’s leading digital-only political website. Subscribe to our daily newsletter for all the latest news and analysis.***
The remarks came as the PM unveiled measures to curb net migration, including a ban on care homes from recruiting overseas, new English language requirements for visa holders and stricter rules on gaining British citizenship.
The “island of strangers” phrase specifically has seen Starmer’s detractors draw comparisons between his address and Enoch Powell’s 1968 Rivers Of Blood speech.
Among those to have made the comparison is former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, who wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that “Talk of an ‘island of strangers’ shockingly echoes the divisive language of Enoch Powell”.
Dubs, 92, said that he recalled Powell’s infamous speech and noted the “shock that we all felt of the idea that a senior politician would actually use such language.”
He told The News Agents podcast: “Well, I remember Powell’s speech. I remember the shock that we all felt of the idea that a senior politician would actually use such language which denigrates minority people in this country.
“I’m unhappy that we have senior politicians who use language which is reminiscent of Powell, and I’m sorry that Keir Starmer used some of the phrases that you just quoted. I’m sorry he did that, because it’s not the sort of person he is, and I don’t think it’s what he actually believes in.”
Critics have pointed to a passage in Powell’s 1968 speech, in which the then-Conservative frontbencher issued the inflammatory remark that immigration was rendering Britons “strangers in their own country.”
Powell said: “For reasons which they [the white British public] could not comprehend, and in pursuance of a decision by default, on which they were never consulted, they found themselves made strangers in their own country.”
Pressed further on whether the prime minister’s rhetoric was reminiscent of Powell, Dubs commented: “Yes, I think it is – certainly, it’s made people do all the comparisons.
“So the answer is yes, and I regret that because there are very important things in the white paper about the immigration system, and I don’t want those to be lost in terms of a debate about one particular phrase that Starmer used.
“I wouldn’t want to lose the important things the government are doing and of course I wouldn’t want to lose some of the criticism that some of us will make of that particular white paper.”
Former home secretary David Blunkett, also a Labour peer, has been another to criticise the prime minister’s rhetoric.
According to reports, he told a University of Law graduation ceremony Tuesday: “I never felt I lived in, or had a part to play in, a country of strangers.
“I thought welcoming people from across the world was a tribute to our society, where people want to make their homes, to build a life and their economy and to contribute to our society.
“I think we need to be kind to each other, but we need a much kinder national world as well.”
Also speaking on Tuesday, the prime minister’s spokesperson said Starmer “completely rejects” suggestions he echoed Powell in his speech on immigration.
Asked to comment on the row by journalists, the spokesperson responded: “We completely reject that comparison.”
They added: “The prime minister… absolutely stands behind the argument he was making that migrants make a massive contribution to our country, but migration needs to be controlled.”
Asked if Starmer stood by what he said yesterday about Britain being at risk of turning into an “island of strangers”, the spokesperson replied: “Yes.”
Josh Self is Editor of Politics.co.uk, follow him on Bluesky here.
Politics.co.uk is the UK’s leading digital-only political website. Subscribe to our daily newsletter for all the latest news and analysis.
