The National’s front page has gone viral, and you can see why.
They shared it on X and wrote: “‘Echoes of Enoch Powell’: Keir Starmer panned over immigration speech.”
Island of Strangers
It comes as Sir Keir Starmer has defended his plans to curb net migration after an angry backlash from MPs, businesses and industry.
His speech, in which he said the UK risked becoming an “island of strangers,” has been called out by many people.
Some politicians claimed that his words had echoed Powell’s notorious “rivers of blood” speech, which imagined a future multicultural Britain where the white population “found themselves made strangers in their own country”.
Net migration climbed to a record 906,000 in June 2023, and last year it stood at 728,000.
The government will also scrap a visa scheme, set up by Boris Johnson’s government, that allows firms to hire health and social care workers from overseas.
The government also said:
- English language requirements for all work visas would increase
- The amount of time migrants need to live in the UK before applying for settled status would double from five years to 10, while setting up a fast-track system for “high-skilled, high-contributing” people
- A “limited pool” of refugees and displaced people recognised by the United Nations’ agency responsible will be eligible to apply for jobs through existing skilled-worker routes.
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