Diane Abbott Slams Keir Starmer's Immigration Speech For Being 'Fundamentally Racist'

Diane Abbott has declared that Keir Starmer’s “island of strangers” immigration speech was “fundamentally racist” and copying Reform UK’s rhetoric.

The prime minister sparked comparisons right-wing former Tory minister Enoch Powell after he announced Labour’s plans to slash the number of migrants coming to the UK last month.

At the time, he said: “In a diverse nation like ours, and I celebrate that, these rules become even more important.

“Without them, we risk becoming an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together.”

Speaking at anti-austerity rally on Saturday, Abbott, a respected Labour backbencher, joined the chorus of critics who have called out the speech.

The left-wing MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington particularly tore into Starmer’s warning about becoming an “island of strangers”.

She said she was “disturbed” to hear his remarks, noting: “I thought that was a fundamentally racist thing to say, in the contrary to to Britain’s history. My parents came to this country in the 50s.

“They were not strangers, they helped to build this country. So, I think Keir Starmer is quite wrong to say that the way you beat Reform is to copy Reform.”

She also alleged that Starmer’s claim that immigration has done “incalculable damage to this green and pleasant land” is “nonsense”.

Abbott, formerly the shadow home secretary under Jeremy Corbyn, told the cheering crowds: “Immigrants built this land, built this society!”

She also warned that there was an international struggle to “fight the rich and the powerful [and] to fight the racists,” including within her own party.

Abbott concluded: “We have to stand against these cuts, we have to stand against the austerity budget, and by coming together today, rallying together, we will win.” 

Thousands of trade unionists, campaigners and activists gathered to “send a message” to the government about its welfare reforms ahead of the spending review next week.

When pressed about the backlash to Starmer’s immigration comments last month, his spokesperson told reporters the prime minister stood by his words.

He said: “The prime minister has made the argument that migrants make a massive contribution to the UK and have done for generations, not least those who came after the war.

“But it is also reasonable to recognise that uncontrolled migration of recent years has put pressure on public services.”

The spokesman also said Starmer “rejects previous speeches” made by Powell.

Abbott has become a regular critic of the prime minister over the last year, after she beat an attempt by the Labour hierarchy to drop her as an MP at the last election over allegations of anti-semitism.

She accused the PM of having “no feel for politics” when he chose not to compensate Waspi women and alleged Starmer treated her as a “non-person” when a Tory donor said she “should be shot”.