Questions for Labour on migration
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Today’s second reading vote on Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda Bill may be closer than the Prime Minister would like, after a “Star Chamber” of lawyers convened by the European Research Group rejected it. Given that Labour has said that it will not support the legislation, Mr Sunak will be at the mercy of his own MPs this evening.
Letting events take their course has rewarded Sir Keir Starmer with a double digit lead, and the temptation will be to continue denouncing the Government while offering few alternatives. Sir Keir’s party conference address this year did not even touch on the boats issue. Yet as polling day nears, voters may find the absence of a coherent Labour plan troubling.
There has been talk on the opposition benches of “smashing the gangs”, improved cooperation with Europe and faster processing, but it is unclear how any of this will make a difference to the numbers and it ignores the efforts made by the Government in precisely these areas. The shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper has dismissed the use of barges and bases to house asylum seekers as “gimmicks”. How, therefore, does Labour intend to deliver on its promise to shut asylum hotels?
Parts of the Labour Party do not appear to see a problem with mass migration. Should an internal row erupt, the politics Sir Keir represents will be in a very hard place. With the whole of Europe now dealing with the problem of illegal immigration, Britain may also not be alone in debating the future of the European Convention on Human Rights. Sir Keir has a background in human rights law. Does he think he can forever neglect the conflict between controlling immigration and the laws of which he is presumably still a defender?
