‘Keir Starmer fought to stop foreign criminals being deported – he will never cut migration’, ex borders minister blasts

Labour has too often shied away from raising immigration. Lots of people on the left scream ‘racist’ if you dare so much as raise it. 

But the question is not what his members think – it’s whether voters will trust Labour to secure our borders?

In the past, Labour’s unwillingness to talk about immigration meant the Tories had an open goal.

But even Conservatives in Parliament struggle to defend their record.

A few weeks ago, one of their whips asked me if I’d vote for their Rwanda plan to deal with people crossing the Channel. 

Of course the boats must be stopped – not least because kids are drowning on the dangerous crossings. They need to crack down hard on the evil criminal scum behind the crossings and smash their business model, but only sending a few hundred to Rwanda is hardly a deterrent.

And I told them I was more worried about the million people they allowed to come to the UK legally last year than the few hundred they want to send to Rwanda!

That is the equivalent of a city the size of Birmingham arriving to live in the UK legally last year.

It is not racist to wonder about the impact on schools and hospitals or to worry where they’ll live when we’re not building enough houses for people living here already.

And this from the party that promised to get immigration down to under 100,000!

With a record like that, it’s no wonder the Tories are struggling in the election.

So I reckon voters will be prepared to give Labour a hearing on immigration this time.

People will welcome his pledge to cut the numbers, but they need to be brought down by hundreds of thousands. Tinkering around the edges won’t do at all.

It’s obvious commonsense that companies caught not paying British workers the minimum wage or flouting health and safety laws should not be allowed to apply for visas to bring staff in from abroad. 

And it makes sense to link training and visas too. 

Most people think it is completely nuts that firms are allowed to recruit builders, plumbers and electricians from abroad when we’ve got thousands of British youngsters who should be trained up to do those jobs. 

And why are we limiting the number of training places for nurses at the same time as bringing in nurses from abroad?

Increase the number of training places, provide proper old-fashioned apprenticeships and give British kids the skills they need to build a proper career.

Keir is right to raise immigration but voters have heard these promises before so woe betide Labour if they don’t deliver.

By former Labour MP Lord Ian Austin