Prime Minister Keir Starmer has condemned Reform UK’s plan to deport thousands of people legally settled in Britain, describing the policy as both “racist” and “immoral”.
He warned that such proposals risk “tearing the country apart” and signalled a long struggle ahead against the populist right.
Speaking at Labour’s party conference in Liverpool, Starmer addressed Reform’s pledge to abolish indefinite leave to remain – a route which allows people who have lived and worked in the UK legally for five years, along with their dependents, to gain settlement rights. If enacted, the plan would leave tens of thousands of lawful residents at risk of deportation.
Starmer told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “Well, I do think that it is a racist policy. I do think it is immoral. It needs to be called out for what it is.”
He distinguished between removing illegal migrants and targeting law-abiding residents, adding: “It is one thing to say we’re going to remove illegal migrants, people who have no right to be here. I’m up for that. It is a completely different thing to say we are going to reach in to people who are lawfully here and start removing them. They are our neighbours. They’re people who work in our economy. They are part of who we are. It will rip this country apart.”
The Labour leader insisted that many Reform voters are not motivated by racism but by frustration with political failure. “They had 14 years of failure under the Conservatives, they want us to change things. They may have voted Labour a year ago, and they want the change to come more quickly. I actually do understand that,” he said.
Meanwhile, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has suggested the government may review settlement rules by linking indefinite leave to remain not only to employment and taxes but also to wider community contributions.
Speaking to The Sun, she said: “I am looking at how to make sure that settlement in our country – long-term settlement, indefinite leave to remain – is linked not just to the job you are doing, the salary you get, the taxes you pay, [but] also the wider contribution you are making to our communities.”
Mahmood, whose parents migrated from Kashmir to Birmingham in the 1970s, emphasised that settlement should reflect social and civic engagement as well as economic value. “They didn’t just come to work – they settled, they made a contribution to the local community, they were volunteers, they got involved in local politics. They did more than simply work and earn a salary,” she said.
The clash between Labour and Reform highlights how immigration policy is set to remain one of the most divisive issues in British politics.
