13 h. ago No 10 defends Starmer’s language on immigration likened to Enoch Powell speech

Downing Street says it is wrong to compare PM’s warning about ‘island of strangers’ to 1968 ‘rivers of blood’ speechDowning Street has robustly defended Keir Starmer’s language on immigration, which has been likened to that used by Enoch Powell, rejecting the direct comparison but saying the prime minister would not “shy away” from direct talk about the subject.A series of MPs criticised Starmer for his rhetoric when introducing a new policy paper on immigration on Monday, particularly his warning that the UK risked becoming “an island of strangers”, a near-direct echo of language used by Powell in his infamous 1968 “rivers of blood” speech. Continue reading...

Politics

14 h. ago Why is Keir Starmer's speech being compared to Enoch Powell's Rivers of Blood speech?

What are the similarities?

Events

17 h. ago Starmer doubles down on ‘island of strangers’ immigration row amid growing Labour revolt

Downing Street has rejected comparisons to former rightwing Tory MP Enoch Powell and insisted the prime minister will ‘not shy away’ from the issue of immigration

Politics

18 h. ago Immigrants are not spongers or skivers, says Sadiq Khan, after PM's 'island of strangers' speech

London mayor says of Sir Keir Starmer’s comments: ‘Those aren’t words that I would use’

Events

19 h. ago Keir Starmer doubles down on 'island of strangers' remark after Enoch Powell comparison

Keir Starmer's official spokesman said the PM rejects comparisons between his migration speech and Enoch Powell's notorious 'rivers of blood' speech after fierce criticism

Politics

20 h. ago Yvette Cooper hits back at comparisons between Starmer speech and Enoch Powell

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said it was not right to make comparisons between Keir Starmer's remarks and Enoch Powell's racist 'river of blood speech' in an exchange with the BBC's Nick Robinson

Events

21 h. 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

22 h. ago Cooper defends Starmer as migration speech likened to ‘rivers of blood’ language

The Home Secretary insisted the tone of the Prime Minister’s migration plan was ‘completely different’ from Enoch Powell’s 1968 anti-migration speech.

Events

36 h. ago Keir Starmer backlash after 'island of strangers' migrant speech

Keir Starmer has been accused of 'shameful and dangerous' language, with suspended Labour MP John McDonnell claiming it 'reflects the language' of Enoch Powell's notoriously racist 'rivers of blood' speech

Events

42 h. ago 'The immigration speech Keir Starmer would have made, if he told you the truth'

The Prime Minister has announced a crackdown on immigration which isn't a crackdown and isn't about immigration, says Fleet Street Fox. Here's what he should have said instead

Politics

46 h. ago Susanna Reid says 'this is big' as Good Morning Britain halted for breaking news

Good Morning Britain was interrupted on Monday morning as hosts Susanna Reid and Richard Madeley went live to Downing Street for a speech from Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer

Politics

47 h. ago Watch live: Keir Starmer announces stricter migration rules in major immigration crackdown

Watch live as Keir Starmer announces new measures designed to slash net migration in the UK.

Politics

48 h. ago Keir Starmer immigration speech LIVE: PM to give Downing Street press conference

The Prime Minister will address the nation from Downing Street as the Government sets out its long-awaited plans to drive down net migration with tough new visa rules

Politics

5 d. ago No sense of direction in No10? Downing Street gives the WRONG location for Keir Starmer's US trade deal speech

The gaffe meant journalists were forced into a last-ditch scramble to get to the correct venue in order to quiz Sir Keir about his trade deal with Donald Trump .

Economics

6 d. ago Keir Starmer to pay tribute to WW2 veterans in VE Day speech

In a speech as the nation marks the 80 year anniversary of VE Day, Keir Starmer will say: 'It was a victory for good against the assembled forces of hatred, tyranny and evil'

Politics

8 d. ago Eluned Morgan to set out ‘red Welsh way’ in speech criticising Starmer

Exclusive: First minister of Wales hoping to counter threats to Welsh Labour from Reform and Plaid CymruThe Welsh first minister will criticise Keir Starmer’s welfare reforms in a major speech on Tuesday, saying she will pursue a leftwing “red Welsh way” and put a clear dividing line between Welsh Labour and the national party.Eluned Morgan will distance herself from Starmer’s government in a speech on Tuesday billed by allies as a reset moment for Welsh Labour to counter the threats from Reform UK and Plaid Cymru. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Underdogs: The Truth About Britain’s White Working Class review – a complicated class portrait

Journalist Joel Budd travels around Britain demolishing Brexit myths in a nuanced study of a social group too often reduced to a cartoon by politiciansOn 13 November 1968, a 35-year-old Labour politician got to his feet in the House of Commons and had a go at the ranks of Conservative members who faced him. Six or so months after Enoch Powell had delivered his infamously racist “rivers of blood” speech in Birmingham, David Winnick – who was then the MP for Croydon South – had decided to attack the Tory fashion for bemoaning immigration to the UK from such countries as India and Pakistan and expressing faux sympathy with deprived communities in British cities. “Many of those who act as the champions of the white person against immigrants,” he said, “have not in the past gone out of their way to defend the interests of the white working class.”As the Economist journalist Joel Budd points out in this nuanced, enlightening book about the people and places Winnick was referring to, this ...

Events