2 w. ago A Labour lost in the weeds can’t rebuild this country. Starmer must regain his nerve | John Harris

Labour has good ideas and years left to change Britain. Why is it acting as if its time is almost up? Just under a week on from Keir Starmer’s latest pronouncements about immigration, plenty of people on his own side are still gripped by a queasy sense of fury and disappointment, and it shows no signs of fading away. His aides and allies will now try to gladden left-liberal hearts by emphasising gains from Monday’s UK-EU summit, and the prime minister’s remodelling of Brexit. But the acrid cloud hanging over Starmer will surely remain, and with good reason.Whatever the surrounding context – and whether or not he was consciously echoing Enoch Powell – his suggestion that Britain risked becoming an “island of strangers” still sounded like a horribly calculated provocation. The insistence that the government was set on closing “a squalid chapter for our politics, our economy, and our country” was even more brazen. So was the suggestion after years of “a one-nation experiment in open bo...

Politics

3 w. ago 'Britain is already an island of strangers': Tory Robert Jenrick echoes Keir Starmer's hardline migrant speech

The shadow justice minister also hit out at so-called 'white flight' in a series of interviews after Labour unveiled new plans to control immigration.

Events

3 w. ago Keir Starmer hit by growing backlash for 'island of strangers' warning on immigration to Britain

London MPs have heavily criticised the Prime Minister over his language

Events

3 w. ago London MPs slam Keir Starmer for 'island of strangers' warning on immigration to Britain

The PM was hit with a growing backlash after unveiling immigration reforms

Events

3 w. ago Coachload of newly arrived Channel migrants mock Starmer's immigration crackdown: On the same day he vowed to 'take back control' and stop UK becoming 'island of strangers'

The latest incomers are on the same day the Prime Minister admitted mass immigration risks making Britain an 'island of strangers' as he vowed action.

Events

3 w. ago Coachload of newly arrived migrants humiliate Starmer on day he vowed to stop them

The latest incomers are on the same day the Prime Minister admitted mass immigration risks making Britain an 'island of strangers' as he vowed action.

Events

3 w. ago Panicking Starmer admits mass immigration risks making Britain an 'island of strangers' as he tries to head off Reform surge

Keir Starmer deployed the Brexit slogan at a press conference in Downing Street as he pledged to end the 'betrayal' of Britain's reliance on cheap foreign labour.

Events

3 w. ago 'This plan means migration will fall. That's a promise': Keir Starmer unveils immigration crackdown

The Prime Minister said tougher restrictions were needed, warning that Britain risked becoming 'an island of strangers'

Politics