Labour conference in brief

The prime minister meets with his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni earlier this month

Starmer accused of 'embracing' anti-migrant rhetoric

Sir Keir Starmer's government has been accused of having "embraced" anti-migrant rhetoric by a former member of the party's national executive committee (NEC). Speaking at an event on the fringes of the Labour conference in Liverpool yesterday, Mish Rahman said the government had "thrown its own fuel" onto Islamophobia and racism in the UK, adding that the far-right riots that rocked England and Northern Ireland in August "were inevitable under this climate".

At the same event, Diane Abbott warned that a renewed “austerity drive” would bring an increase in racism, with ethnic minorities “bearing the brunt of the government’s attacks”.

Mr Rahman – who was a member of the NEC from 2020 to 2024 – took aim at Sir Keir for meeting with right-wing Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni earlier this month. Mr Rahman said: “We also saw Rishi Sunak courting his best friend, who is the far-right fascist leader of Italy, Giorgia Meloni. This is the same Meloni that warned that Italians are victims of an ethnic replacement by waves of migrants who she branded criminals and rapists.

“We got rid of the Tories, so things are going to change, you all may say. But last week, or the week before, Keir Starmer met the same far-right fascist Meloni, and Keir Starmer was keen to know from Meloni how her far-right government dealt with migration so well.”

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