Is Labour turning right in its approach to migration?

The prime minister has taken the opportunity of another international summit on migration to try to build international cooperation on the issue, talk tough on illegal” ie irregular) migration, and announce a new law that penalises companies for evading legal checks on people’s right to work in the UK which asylum seekers are not permitted to do).

- SEAN O'GRADY

Some 40 countries, along with tech giants such as Meta, X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok, are represented at the meeting. Also notable by their presence were representatives from Vietnam, Albania and Iraq – prime sources of migration. It signals a continuing emphasis on meeting the public’s concerns, and a shift to the right in rhetoric and policy...

What’s new?

Keir Starmer’s more aggressive rhetoric – and, more specifically, a new law that promises penalties for outfits that don’t check on the right to work of their often casual employees, particularly in construction. In Starmer’s words: “We have to be honest here. For too long, the UK has been a soft touch on this ... Too many dodgy firms have been exploiting a loophole to skip this process: hiring illegal workers, undercutting honest businesses, driving down the wages of ordinary working people.”

For those found guilty, there’s a fine of up to £60,000, a maximum prison term of five years, and the closure of their business.

Is Starmer sounding more like... Nigel Farage?

Unmistakeably. It’s more carefully done, so that, for example, it’s unscrupulous British bosses rather than the immigrants themselves who are blamed for driving down wages, and targeted by the harshest words – but there’s no mistaking the shift. Starmer’s latest activity on X is another example of the blunter language: “If you don’t have the right to be in this country, then you shouldn’t be here. It’s that simple.”