If the consequences of Labour’s heavy losses in the local elections were not already clear, they became so in this morning’s press conference to relaunch the government’s migration policy.
Reversing years of generally friendly attitudes towards migration, dating back to Tony Blair’s day – when the UK opened its doors to migrant workers from Eastern Europe seven years ahead of most EU countries – Keir Starmer has unashamedly tried to reposition Labour as an anti-immigration party. He lambasted the Conservatives for saying they would reduce migration before trebling it, and repeatedly used the Leave campaign’s slogan ‘take back control’.
This followed policy announcements by Starmer and by the shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, which promise to make it more difficult for asylum seekers to challenge decisions to reject their applications and to make it harder for care homes to recruit care workers from abroad.
Whether any of this will impress Red Wall voters drawn to Reform is one thing, but the PM’s announcements were noticeable for one thing in particular: his rejection of the idea that migration is good for economic growth.
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