Joint statement accuses government of copying Tories’ ‘performative cruelty’. A group of more than 900 Labour members and trade unionists, including MPs and peers, have accused the government of copying the “performative cruelty” of the Conservatives in its migration and asylum policy. In a joint statement, they singled out the Home Office’s decision, revealed last week, to refuse citizenship to anyone who arrives in the UK via “a dangerous journey” such as a small boat over the Channel.
The statement also criticised ministers for highlighting the number of people being deported from the UK, with a Home Office publicity blitz last week using footage and images showing people being removed on planes. The statement, coordinated by the Labour Campaign for Free Movement and the left-leaning Labour group Momentum, has been signed by seven Labour MPs – Nadia Whittome, Diane Abbott, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Clive Lewis, Jon Trickett, Brian Leishman and Steve Witherden – as well as four ex-Labour MPs who now sit as independents, and four of the party’s peers.
It read: “Last week the government has published videos of deportations, restated its intention to criminalise people arriving irregularly, and banned them from ever becoming British citizens. “These measures mimic the performative cruelty of the failed Tory governments rejected by voters last July. They also breach Britain’s international obligations to respect the right to claim asylum and guarantee safe routes.
“Far from being a drain on this country, migrants from all over the world enrich our society in every sense. Anti-migrant politics will not build a single house, staff a single hospital or raise anyone’s wages. Instead, by echoing its rhetoric, the government is simply fuelling the rise of Reform UK. “We urge Labour’s leaders to recognise that Labour’s only route to victory is to deliver for the vast majority of people. We need to reverse austerity, address the climate crisis, take on the water and energy companies ripping us off, and foster a politics of working-class solidarity.”.
Ministers have faced previous warnings from within the party and its backers that attempts to try to limit the threat from Reform by talking and acting toughly on migration could backfire. Earlier this month Labour launched a series of adverts with Reform-style branding and messaging about how many people the government had deported, including a series from a group called UK Migration Updates. Sign up to First Edition.
Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters. after newsletter promotion. On Sunday, Christina McAnea, the general secretary of Unison, and nine Church of England bishops were among 148 signatories of a letter saying that the plan to deprive almost all asylum seekers of citizenship would “breed division and distrust” and could fuel attacks on migrant hotels.
