UK

UCU Slams Starmer’s anti-immigration turn

3rd December 2024Leave a Commenton UCU Slams Starmer’s anti-immigration turn

“Keir Starmer’s indulgence of anti-immigration policies is not only a betrayal of the labour movement’s fundamental principles, but an act of political & national self-harm.”

Statement from the UCU

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s indulgence of anti-immigration policies is not only a betrayal of the labour movement’s fundamental principles, but an act of political and national self-harm.

The stage for this intervention was set by the PM’s praise of Italian premier Giorgia Meloni – a political descendant of Mussolini – for her “remarkable progress” in attacking immigrants. No Labour leader should be so comfortable in the company, actual or rhetorical, of such fascistic demagogues.

Now our PM claims the previous government was conducting a “one-nation experiment in open borders”, and pledges that he will end it. In reality, Tory immigration restrictions did great harm to crucial British sectors, higher education not least among them. Such damage has been compounded by Labour’s refusal to change course. Britain’s world-leading universities, for example, are now much less appealing for international students thanks to cruel, family-separating visa restrictions.

Worse than an ethical catastrophe, the PM’s pandering to hard-right moral panics is a serious political mistake. Allowing the likes of Meloni, Farage, and Orban to set the ideological parameters of our politics only strengthens them, and in the end paves their path to power.

We vehemently oppose Labour dealing with the hard-right threat in this incredibly dangerous way and call on other unions to join us in doing so. Immigration enriches us all – socially, economically, and culturally – and should be proudly defended.

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• This was originally published by the University and College Union here.