Labour MP Keir Starmer tours UK to find ‘firm but humane’ migrant policy

“Clear response”: Sir Keir Starmer
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

The London MP in charge of Labour’s immigration policy is going on a nationwide tour to help it draw up a new “firm but humane” approach.

Shadow minister Sir Keir Starmer will spend three months meeting the public, charities, unions and others to hear their views on the pros and cons of migration as he seeks to overhaul Labour’s policies on controlling it.

The tour, which will include the south-west and the north-east as well as Wales, Scotland and London, has been prompted by what he claims is the Government’s failure of “moral responsibility” over the refugee crisis and inability to deliver its net migration target.

He said Labour — which hardened its immigration policy under Ed Miliband in the wake of its 2010 election defeat — now needed a “clear and coherent alternative” and details would be unveiled after his tour.

Describing the Government’s migration policy as being “in tatters”, former Director of Public Prosecutions Sir Keir accused them of “being too slow and reluctant to help refugees, and too focused on headlines and internal politicking to devise a coherent and comprehensive approach to increased net migration.

“Labour needs a sure-footed response that sets out a clear and coherent alternative. Devising our response will take time. But some things are already clear. Following the decision to extend our military action in Iraq to Syria we now have an even greater moral responsibility to provide a fair and humane response to those fleeing persecution in both countries.

“Yet by limiting our response to just 20,000 Syrian refugees over the next five years, the Government has failed this test of moral responsibility. More should be done, and quickly.”

He said the Government’s target of cutting net migration from overseas to below 100,000 a year “also clearly needs to be reconsidered”.

“Setting arbitrary targets makes little sense ... and by including students in the net migration figures we risk losing tomorrow’s academic brilliance for the sake of today’s target.”

Holborn and St Pancras MP Sir Keir, appointed as Labour’s shadow immigration minister by Jeremy Corbyn, will set out his initial thoughts on its new approach in a speech next week.

He said “an intense focus on the root cause of migration”, which included civil war, persecution, poverty and climate change, was needed and that Labour should “adopt the strongest principled position” in response.

Sir Keir added: “The UK should be at the forefront of efforts to tackle these issues, not shirking our responsibilities by adopting the narrow and inward- looking ‘hostile environment’ approach which underpins this government’s approach to immigration.

“There are many, varied and legitimate views on migration across the party and across the UK. Many Labour voters and supporters are worried about migration and their concerns must be our concerns.

“That is why, as shadow immigration minister, I will spend the next three months visiting different parts of the UK, listening to the arguments and seeing for myself both the advantages and challenges that migration brings in different places.”

Detailed proposals will be drawn up by Sir Keir following his tour and presented to Mr Corbyn and party members for approval. Labour’s 2010 defeat was partly blamed on public concerns about record migration figures under the Blair and Brown governments.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in