Zarah Sultana has slammed various government figures over Labour’s migrant comments.
It comes as Keir Starmer defended his plans to curb net migration after an angry backlash from MPs, businesses and industry to a speech in which he said the UK risked becoming an “island of strangers” without tough new policies.
At a press conference in Downing Street, Starmer said: “Let me put it this way, nations depend on rules, fair rules. Sometimes they are written down, often they are not, but either way, they give shape to our values, guide us towards our rights, of course, but also our responsibilities, the obligations we owe to each other.
“In a diverse nation like ours … we risk becoming an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together.”
His statement was likened by some critics to the infamous speech by Enoch Powell, and the Starmer was accused of pandering to the populist right, and fear of Reform at the polls, by insisting he intended to “take back control of our borders” and end a “squalid chapter” of migration.
He also added: “Britain is an inclusive and tolerant country, but the public expect that people who come here should be expected to learn the language and integrate.”
Many 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”.
Newsnight
“I just think she’s wrong.” Baroness Smith, Skills Minister, responded to criticism from Zarah Sultana MP that the Prime Minister’s language imitates Enoch Powell’s ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech.
In response, Sultana wrote: “A good rule of thumb: if Jacqui Smith says you’re wrong, you’re probably right. P.S. She voted for the illegal Iraq war — that killed more than a million people.”
She then wrote: “We all know *the person* in No. 10 who thought they were playing 5D chess by reviving Enoch Powell’s fascistic phrase “island of strangers”. Keir Starmer approved it — then parroted it. Shame on all their houses.”
Related: Watch: Lee Anderson sparks Commons backlash with Corbyn deportation quip
