Sir Keir Starmer has admitted that Labour “got it wrong” on migration – and “shied away” from the concerns of the British public.
The Prime Minister, writing in The Telegraph ahead of a major conference of some of the West’s left-wing leaders, acknowledged that migration was “where some on the left went wrong”.
He also claimed that Labour was being forced to counter the “rise of the populist right” in the preview of his speech at the Global Progress Action Summit today.
In it, he confirmed: “There is no doubt that for years left-wing parties, including my own, did shy away from people’s concerns around illegal immigration.
“It has been too easy for people to enter the country, work in the shadow economy and remain illegally.”
The PM also lashed out at the poll-topping Reform UK – whose “simple slogans will not do anything to resolve” the migrant crisis, he said.
“There is no silver bullet, but we must enforce every possible measure to deter illegal migrants from entering British waters,” Sir Keir continued.
Some 1,157 migrants crossed the Channel over the last week.
But echoing Reform’s attacks on the “Boriswave” migration surge, the PM added: “The huge increase in immigration that happened under the Conservatives was based on a hyper-liberal free market viewpoint.
“Labour is clear that there must be no return to that.”
He finished: “Britain faces a choice between decency and division, between renewal and decline.
“This is the defining political choice of our times, and we must be unafraid of challenging a politics of grievance, preying on the problems of working people.”
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Mark White’s Migration Monitor: Digital ID won’t stop small boat surge – and fresh wave is coming in just hours
GB News’ Home and Security Editor Mark White has warned that the PM’s expected digital ID announcement today will not stop the boats.
Writing for GBN members, Mark predicts that 2,000 migrants are massing in northern France at this moment, following a pattern seen already this year.
“Instead of a regular summer drumbeat of two or three hundred small boat migrants, we’re seeing a week or more of nothing, then a huge surge of a thousand or more in a single day,” he says.
“This weekend is set to follow that pattern – and then some.
“We should be in for a few days of good weather, allowing for as many as 2,000 to make the crossing.”
GBN MEMBERS CAN READ MARK WHITE’S MIGRATION MONITOR HERE
Danny Kruger reveals what he told Nigel Farage just before quitting Kemi Badenoch’s Tories
New Reform MP Danny Kruger has revealed what he told Nigel Farage before jumping ship from Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Political Thinking, Mr Kruger said he had approached Mr Farage, telling him: “You represent the best chance that the country has, but also those of us who have a Conservative disposition have.”
He also revealed the “pain” of defecting from the Tories – which fell to fourth place in a national poll, at just 14 per cent, on Thursday.
“It was painful,” the East Wiltshire MP said. “It is painful and it was very painful on the day I did it. It was not an enjoyable experience.
“I’ve got a lot of good friends who I know are hurt. And only a few have had a go at me and they weren’t friends anyway.
“The people I care about are, I think, silently regretful and sorry.”
David Lammy rages at Israel as he boasts of recognising Palestine at UN
David Lammy launched into an impassioned plea over Gaza at the United Nations overnight – in which he hailed Britain’s recognition of a Palestinian state.
“What is happening in Gaza is indefensible, it is inhumane, it is utterly unjustifiable and it must end now,” the Deputy Prime Minister vowed.
“The people of Palestine, whose state we proudly recognised this week, and the people of Israel deserve better. Better than the horrific acts by Hamas on October 7 that left children without their parents and parents without their children.
“Better than the torment of families waiting desperately for the return of their loved ones from the most barbaric captivity. Better than the fanatical rule by Hamas, a vile, pitiless terrorist organisation that must have no future in Gaza.
“Better than Israel’s denial of life-saving humanitarian aid and the catastrophic famine that it has caused.
“As Israel escalates its military operations and displaces Palestinian families again and again and again, there can be no answer to these horrors but concerted diplomatic action to keep the hope of peace alive.”
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