Labour’s immigration plan is a doomed attempt to stop Nigel Farage becoming Prime Minister
Sir Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood have drawn up policies Labour would denounce as ‘racist’ from any other party.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is announcing tough new immigration policies (Image: Getty)
Want to place a bet on Nigel Farage becoming Prime Minister? You’ve left it late, as the bookies now have him as the clear favourite to win – meaning the odds have fallen. You’ll be offered just 7/2 on Mr Farage becoming the next occupant of Number 10 (in second place is ambitious Labour Health Secretary Wes Streeting, on 6/1).
It’s no surprise. Opinion polls have shown Reform well ahead of months now, and a YouGov survey predicted Nigel Farage’s party would win 311 seats if an election was held today, with Labour second on just 144. This is the context in which Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is announcing her radical plans to curb immigration. It’s a last-ditch attempt to see off the threat from Reform and end the exodus of angry ex-Labour voters who are bitterly disappointed in this government.
Some of her measures are pretty tough. Traditionally, genuine refugees have been welcomed into the UK. But Ms Mahmood wants to send them back if their former countries are safe.
If she had her way, it seems people who came to Britain because the Nazis wanted to murder them would be deported back to Germany once World War II ended.
In the meantime, she wants to confiscate their valuables, or at least some of them.
Imagine if the Conservatives or Reform proposed anything like this. You wouldn’t be able to hear yourself above the din of Labour politicians denouncing them as racist scum.
But Shabana was appointed to do just this sort of thing. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer made her Home Secretary in September’s reshuffle precisely because of her no-nonsense attitude – and the fact that she’s far more right wing than most of his party.
He’s banking on Shabana to save his bacon and convince voters that you don’t need a Reform government in order to get immigration under control.
Whether Sir Keir actually supports his Home Secretary’s plan is anybody’s guess. Remember, when he stood for the Labour leadership he promised: “Full voting rights for EU nationals. Defend free movement as we leave the EU. An immigration system based on compassion and dignity.”
But it’s become clear that the Prime Minister has very few convictions. He simply wants to get re-elected.
Sir Keir isn’t the only person banking on Shabana Mahmood. It may sound odd, but Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch should also be hoping Ms Mahmood succeeds in getting immigration under control, because that’s the only thing that could take the wind out of Reform’s sails – and might give the Tories a chance of avoiding wipe-out at the next election.
The big question is whether any of this will work. A lot of Labour MPs hate it. And not just the left-wing ones. Some moderate Labour MPs fear they will lose votes to the Greens and Liberal Democrats by veering too far to the right.
It also remains to be seen whether Ms Mahmood’s plan will actually stop the boats. Because the key question is this – will people who cross the Channel in small boats be immediately removed from the UK (as the Tories planned with their Rwanda scheme?) Or will they still be allowed to stay, and given money and housing, while their claims are processed? The answer, even with Labour’s tough new policy, is the latter. And that means the boats will keep coming.
