George Osborne has said that the government’s immigration policy could well have been produced by a Conservative government.
Speaking on his Political Currency podcast, which Osborne co-hosts with ex-Labour frontbencher Ed Balls, the former chancellor said that the government’s policy on legal immigration is “very consistent” with that pursued by Conservative governments historically.
Keir Starmer unveiled a series of measures to curb net migration on Monday, including a ban on care homes from recruiting overseas, new English language requirements for visa holders and stricter rules on gaining British citizenship.
The news conference also proved controversial for the prime minister’s use of the phrase “island of strangers” as he reiterated his call for a rules-based immigration system.
Addressing journalists and assembled cabinet ministers, the PM said his government would “take back control of our borders” and close the book on a “squalid chapter” of rising inward migration.
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.”
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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 include former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, independent MP Zarah Sultana and influential Labour peer Lord (Alf) Dubs.
Ed Ball suggested that the controversy and wider rhetoric could have a “straining impact” on the prime minister’s electoral coalition.
The former shadow chancellor commented: “There is no doubt that [Starmer’s words on immigration] will have caused a lot of consternation. And we’ve talked in the past about politics being about holding together your coalition, and this has a straining impact upon Keir Starmer’s coalition.
“There’ll be lots of voices out criticising it — but [the government] may think that’s a price worth paying to get the message across.”
He added: “The interesting thing is, when I look at the language about the importance of control, of there not being a free market, of requiring companies to invest in the skills of British workers…
“There’s actually quite a lot of continuity with the language that Gordon Brown was using as prime minister at the end of the first decade of the 2000s, when he talked about British jobs for British workers and the importance of investing in skills.
“[There’s] quite a lot of continuity in what you [George Osborne] and David Cameron were doing — without free movement, because we’re outside the EU. If you look at the speeches that Ed Miliband, I, as shadow chancellor, Yvette [Cooper] as shadow home secretary were making in 2013-2014 about what Labour would do to control immigration.
“It’s very consistent with the policy and much of the language we saw this week.”
Osborne, who served as chancellor from 2010-2016, argued that, excluding Boris Johnson’s tenure as prime minister, the government’s policy is “very consistent with what Conservative governments had been doing.”
He said: “The striking thing is that, I think this [immigration] white paper could have been produced by a Conservative government. I think some people on the left will find that quite striking…
“If you take that kind of odd period of the Boris Johnson government out, what the Labour government is doing is very consistent with what Conservative governments had been doing — basically making tweaks, tightening up the work route, the requirement on skills, tightening up avenues for students, trying to avoid abuse on dependents, and so on.”
Josh Self is Editor of Politics.co.uk, follow him on Bluesky here.
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