Sir Keir Starmer has been warned Labour’s shift to the right to combat the rise of Reform UK is “utterly doomed” and won’t help the party keep power at the next election, with union leaders cautioning the prime minister against “selling out” his principles.
Labour’s poll ratings have plummeted since the general election, with the rise of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK partly coming as a result of concerns about the impact of immigration, both legal and through small boat crossings.
But Matt Wrack, the head of one of Britain’s largest teaching unions, warned that the prime minister “can never out-Farage Farage”, accusing Sir Keir of “acquiescing to an agenda set by a far-right and populist agenda”.
Dr Tom Dolphin, chair of the British Medical Association, suggested that the prime minister should stick to his “core principles and not sell them out in order to get votes”, expressing concern that tough immigration policies would pose problems for the NHS, given its high reliance on migrant workers.
He accused Sir Keir of “chasing right-wing votes in a way that is causing division in society” and making Britain feel “more anxious and divided”.
It came as a leading pollster suggested that the PM is facing the same predicament as Rishi Sunak faced before his brutal general election defeat, with a split voting coalition, and warned that solely relying on tough rhetoric won’t work.
Keiran Pedley, a pollster at Ipsos, said it would be “naive” to think that Labour shouldn’t address migration, given it’s the number one issue among voters, but he warned that there are also “large numbers of more progressive left-leaning voters that don’t like that”.
The leader of Unite, a major Labour-backing union, warned in July that it could cut ties with the party, potentially leaving Labour without a major donor it has previously relied upon.
The government has pursued an increasingly right-wing agenda as Reform UK surges ahead in the polls, launching a major crackdown on immigration and ramping up its rhetoric.
In May, the prime minister was criticised for using language which mimicked that of Enoch Powell, when he said the UK risks becoming “an island of strangers” in a controversial immigration speech.
Since then, the government has announced sweeping reforms to the asylum system, including making refugee status temporary, so that people are returned to their homeland once it becomes safe.
Ministers are also considering requiring some asylum seekers to contribute to the cost of supporting themselves, emulating Denmark’s “jewellery law” that allows officials to confiscate refugees’ valuables – a policy that was backed by far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
And earlier this month, Sir Keir urged Europe’s leaders to re-examine how the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is interpreted to tackle illegal migration and see off the rise of the far right.
Sir Keir’s political opponents, the Conservatives and Reform UK, have both said they would leave the ECHR if in power.
The prime minister’s approach to immigration since taking office marks an extraordinary turnaround in the last five years from when he was Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow immigration minister promoting open borders, and from three years ago when he claimed that those raising immigration as an issue were “racist”.
Asked whether he thinks a shift to the right will win over voters, Mr Wrack told The Independent it is an “utterly doomed and frankly ridiculous strategy”.
He said: “Keir Starmer can never out-Farage, Farage. No matter how far Keir Starmer or Shabana Mahmood go on immigration, Nigel Farage will seize the opportunity and will go further.”
The union boss accused the Labour government of “legitimising Farage’s claims that we are facing existential threats from people who are fleeing wars around the world, and instead of standing up for decency, they are acquiescing to a far-right and populist agenda.
“They can’t win that battle. They just can’t win it.”
And Dr Dolphin said: “I think Labour’s strategy is probably up to him to plan out. I would say that you’ve got to make sure that as a party, in the same way as a trade union, you need to stick to your core principles and not sell them out in order to get votes.”
He added: “Some of the policies that have been put forward, both by the government and by opposition, are chasing right-wing votes in a way that is causing division in society.
“It is leading to people who live here, people who were born here, even, feeling unwelcome in their own country. That leads to society feeling more anxious and divided, and that is no good for us as a country, as a society.”
He added: “We should be looking to be closer as a society, not to divide ourselves internally and to exclude people. Some of the policies that are being pursued are going to worsen that situation, and they’re not, ultimately, going to be to the benefit of this country.”
Dr Dolphin warned that the immigration policies Reform UK has proposed would make it more difficult for the NHS to function.
“We are very dependent in the NHS on a workforce that comes from overseas, both for doctors and for other staff in the NHS and social care as well, for that matter.
“And the policies that Reform is proposing are going to make it much more difficult for that workforce to come to the UK, and we aren’t yet able to be self-sufficient to produce enough doctors of our own and nurses and of our own to fill that gap”, he said.
Mr Pedley told The Independent Sir Keir is facing a “real strategic challenge”, arguing that Labour has to find a way of addressing migration while “not alienating younger, more progressive voters who are more than happy to shop around.”
The Ipsos pollster said that the government needs to demonstrate a “sustained period” of their policies being successful, rather than relying on rhetoric alone, if it wants polling to bounce back up.
“The pace of change isn’t fast enough at the moment to persuade voters”, he warned.
Number 10 has been contacted for comment.