Why has Labour become more hostile towards migrants?

As the government is criticised for promoting footage of raids on illegal workers, Sean O’Grady looks at the bigger issues behind its apparent change of tone

It’s not that long ago that the then Labour opposition was arguing that lawful immigration helped the economy grow, and that they wanted more “safe and secure routes” for refugees. The emphasis was on “compassion and dignity”, in the words of Keir Starmer before he became prime minister.

Now that Labour is in government, the general mood seems to have grown much more hostile to migration. The pledge to “smash the gangs” has been extended to making propaganda videos of people who’ve no established right to remain or work being rounded up by Border Force and deported. Starmer now taunts the Tories about their failed “open borders” policy. It’s an almost Trumpian transformation, and many of the party’s supporters may well wonder what’s going on...

What’s the idea?

The Labour leadership is frustrated by the scepticism shown towards the “smash the gangs” policy, and the lack of media coverage of its claimed successes. Hence the videos. Such “success” needs to be publicised, and used as a deterrent for any economic migrants.

Angela Eagle, the Home Office minister for border security and asylum, says: “It’s important that we show what we are doing, and it’s important that we send messages to people who may have been sold lies about what will await them in the UK if they get themselves smuggled in. They are more likely to be living in squalid conditions, being exploited by vicious gangs.”

What’s brought this on, then?

Nigel Farage. The surge in Reform UK’s popularity during the election campaign and since has alarmed some Labour figures.

What about the Labour Party itself?

There are some interesting, not to say startling, developments taking place inside the parliamentary Labour Party. As is happening across the country, immigration and social “cultural” issues, such as transgender rights and “diversity, equity and inclusion”, are gaining traction, allied with concerns about the NHS, public services, and what used to be called “levelling up”. Rachel Reeves’s recent big push for investment and growth in the South raised some eyebrows.

Some MPs, indeed, are worrying even now about the prospect of holding their seat at the next election, and this is especially true of those in traditional “red wall” constituencies – seats that, once faithfully Labour, began to edge rightwards after Tony Blair’s time, and – triggered by Brexit – tilted decisively to the Tories in 2019. They are predominantly in the North and the Midlands, with a strong socioeconomic parallel in south Wales.

Indeed, some new groups are forming within the party...

What do they want?

There are really three groups at work. The Red Wall Group (RWG for short) is self-explanatory, and led by Jo White, MP for the archetypal red wall seat of Bassetlaw. Articulate and combative, she is unabashed about her priorities: “The key issue in my constituency is immigration. We are not telling a strong story about what we are achieving. We should be publishing numbers every week.”

She would also like to see ID cards, a policy that at least has the merit of being logically consistent with a tougher policy on irregular migration. There are about 40 MPs on this gang, which is vaguely reminiscent of the Tories’ Northern Research Group.

The other group is led by Dan Carden, a Merseyside MP (not classic red wall but growing vulnerable to apathy), and is called Blue Labour. They seem to share the RWG’s concerns, but have a broader social agenda, more Trumpian about borders and net-zero sceptic. Carden, who comes from the left-wing Socialist Campaign Group, seems more socially conservative. He says that progressive politics has “damaged communities”. He has also supported a further public inquiry into grooming gangs.

Another member, Jonathan Hinder, puts it like this: “We now need to go much further to reconnect with our working-class base in seats like mine, Pendle and Clitheroe, and hundreds like it across the country. That means bold, left-wing economic policies, much lower immigration, a complete rejection of divisive identity politics, and proudly reclaiming our patriotism.”

Both groups have links to the influential Labour Together think tank, now headed by former MP Jon Ashworth, and to its former boss Morgan McSweeney, now Starmer’s chief of staff.

Will it work?

Arguable. As Kemi Badenoch has found, you can’t out-Farage Farage. Second, you alienate liberal voters. Third, you further alienate those who turned to pro-Gaza independent candidates last time round. And most defectors to Reform are ex-Tories.

Still, Reform are second in 89 Labour seats, and the electorate is more volatile than it used to be. A bigger problem might end up being Labour becoming as divided into these “tribes” as the Tories were after the Brexit referendum. That would certainly lose seats.