SIR Keir Starmer will today tell squeamish Labour lefties to get on board with uncomfortable but necessary decisions on migration, spending and welfare cuts.
The PM will say there is “nothing compassionate or progressive” about letting illegal migrants cross the Channel as he stakes his political life on bringing an end to the small boats crisis.
The PM will tell squeamish Labour lefties to get on board with necessary decisions on migration, spending and welfare cuts[/caption]
Starmer must also wrestle Labour’s left on Britain’s bloated benefits bill[/caption]
Sir Keir sees stopping the migrant boats as crucial to reelection[/caption]
He is under pressure to give a storming conference speech to silence his growing number of critics in both the party and across the country.
Delivering hard truths to his party faithful, the Labour leader will say beating Reform will require “decisions that are not cost-free or easy — decisions that will not always be comfortable for our party”.
Sir Keir sees stopping the migrant boats, maintaining economic discipline and taking another stab at slashing Britain’s bloated benefits bill as vital to winning re-election.
And he will once again paint Reform leader Nigel Farage as a divisive figure.
Secure borders are also vital for a decent, compassionate country
Starmer
The PM will say: “Britain stands at a fork in the road. We can choose decency — or we can choose division.”
A string of Cabinet ministers yesterday backed the PM’s claim that Mr Farage’s migration policy was “racist”.
Yet the PM will try to talk tough on boats and borders today, after immigration became the top concern of voters whom he is losing to Reform.
Sir Keir will tell the party faithful in Liverpool: “Secure borders are also vital for a decent, compassionate country.
“Controlling who comes here is an essential task of government and there’s nothing compassionate or progressive in a vile trade that loads people on to overcrowded boats, puts them in grave danger in the Channel and ultimately exploits human desperation.
“Mark my words, we will stop this. We will smash the gangs. We will crack down on illegal working.
“We will remove people with no right to be here. We will secure Britain’s borders.”
Channel crossings are at record levels under Labour, while use of asylum hotels has also increased.
It has seen Reform open up a ten-point lead, according to some polls, and become the bookies’ favourite to form the next government.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood set the tone yesterday with her own tough-talking — and said Mr Farage’s plan was “worse than racist… it’s immoral”.
She unveiled reforms to “indefinite leave to remain” rules, doubling waits from five years to ten and announcing new conditions.
Migrants will have to prove they are in work, paying National Insurance, learning English to a high standard and staying out of trouble.
But she is looking closely at what to do about the Boriswave, because she is concerned about what happens when that group passes beyond the five-year mark and automatically receives ILR
Home Office source on Mahmood
Claiming benefits will count against them, while volunteering in the community or employing others could help them qualify sooner.
Officials say the new system will allow migrants to “earn down” the ten-year wait through positive contributions — or “earn up” if they fail to pull their weight.
But the crackdown does not apply retrospectively, meaning the so-called Boriswave of approximately 1.3million who arrived when post-Brexit visa rules changed between 2021 and 2024 can still qualify after just five years.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood set the tone yesterday with her own tough-talking[/caption]
It is understood Ms Mahmood is weighing a separate emergency fix just for them, although it may not be the same model.
One source close to the Home Secretary said: “For anybody who is in the country now, the new conditions don’t apply.
“But she is looking closely at what to do about the Boriswave, because she is concerned about what happens when that group passes beyond the five-year mark and automatically receives ILR.”
In solving this crisis, you may not always like what I do
Shabana Mahmood
But lawyers have warned any retrospective move would spark legal challenges.
Ashley Stothard, immigration lawyer at Freeths, said of applying the ten-year rule retrospectively: “I think that change would be challenged by judicial review on the basis that it’s unfair.
“We saw a similar situation back in 2008 when the government attempted to retrospectively change the criteria for the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme.
“That challenge was successful, and the new criteria were not applied to those already in the UK.
“The case upheld the principle that immigration policy should be fair and transparent. Migrants in the UK have a legitimate expectation they can qualify for indefinite leave to remain under the rules in place when they entered.”
Ms Mahmood yesterday warned Labour members they might not approve of her migrant crackdown.
She said: “In solving this crisis, you may not always like what I do.
“We will have to question some of the assumptions and legal constraints that have lasted for a generation and more.
“But unless we have control of our borders and until we can decide who comes in and who must leave, we will never be the open, tolerant and generous country that I know we all believe in.”
Sir Keir will tell the party faithful in Liverpool: ‘Secure borders are also vital for a decent, compassionate country’[/caption]
Calling for “a greater Britain, not a littler England”, Ms Mahmood said Labour must make the case for its own form of patriotism to stem what she claimed was a rising tide of “ethno-nationalism”.
She concluded, saying: “Some may describe me in the coming months as a ‘tough’ Home Secretary. Perhaps that is true.
“But let it never be forgotten that I will be a tough Labour Home Secretary, fighting alongside you all for a vision of this country that is distinctly our own.”
Reform deputy leader Richard Tice said: “Her speech-writers may have toughened her rhetoric but the Home Secretary’s speech won’t wash with the public.”
On Sir Keir’s speech, Tory chairman Kevin Hollinrake said: “Keir Starmer calls this a fork in the road, but he’s already driven Britain into a cul-de-sac of chaos.
“Families are fighting to cope with higher bills, higher taxes on jobs and higher mortgage rates.”
