Hearts & Minds: Welcome to the island of strangeness: Starmer’s narrative on immigration

Strong leaders cannot please everyone all the time. At present in many democracies there is none more divisive issue than migration. Sir Keir Starmer is walking that tightrope, pleasing his opponents with tougher controls while not antagonising his supporters in a party that stands for fairness and openness. In a country where the contribution of immigrants has been, and is, immense it is especially difficult. In Starmer’s case, as a human rights lawyer, is more awkward still. 

His comms has been to steal from the other side; to use the language they’re using and then adapt it to create his own message - one that is definably Starmer and Labour. What he must avoid is the fallout that befell Enoch Powell’s ‘rivers of blood’ warning. To go that far would be fatal but he must edge nearer without getting too close.

The phrase that will stick wishing to avoid an ‘island of strangers, not a nation that walks together’. The first part is the one generating headlines. That is to be expected. It is strong and plays to those who claim migrants do not integrate and do not operate to the same cultural values. It’s deliberate. So is the second half. That is intended to keep one foot firmly attached to Labour and Starmer’s commitment to community and inclusivity.

He is introducing a harder enforcement regime but likewise, he will ‘never denigrate’ immigrants, highlighting their role in rebuilding Britain after 1945. Consistently, he emphasises ‘fair rules’ and shared responsibilities – fostering cohesion in other words and not promoting racism.

He wants his reforms to represent a clean break from the past, which includes recent Labour governments. The numbers of those heading for Britain soared while Labour was in charge. His administration will not be similarly tarred. Starmer is careful to avoid the trap that besets many leaders and corporate CEOs, of attaching detail to their promises. It is numbers that also generate coverage and reaction, that people remember and remain, and if they are not achieved, will return to haunt and to taunt.

Amid the flow of pledges, an art perfected by Tony Blair, a brilliant communicator who liked to end his speeches with a heightening crescendo of actions, there are no figures. He has not fixed a specific annual target.

It is, Starmer stresses, not ‘about politics’, but about ‘doing the right thing’. The strategy is smart; anow he must deliver.

Chris Blackhurst is one of the UK’s foremost business journalists. He was previously Editor of The Independent and City Editor of the Evening Standard.