By Munya Radzi, founder and campaigner at Regularise
Once again, Labour has shown that it is willing to lean into anti-migrant narratives rather than confront the real issues facing this country. This week, they doubled down on their rhetoric, pushing a set of policies that echo the language of right-wing tabloids and distract from the true sources of economic and social instability in Britain. This week, Labour’s social media team have been releasing a series of telling soundbites and quotes from Starmer’s earlier speech including:
“Under the Tories, net migration quadrupled. They ran a one-nation experiment in open borders.” – Keir Starmer & the Labour Party
This statement is both dangerous and dishonest. It plays on manufactured fears and scapegoats migrants for a range of economic challenges that are the direct result of deliberate policy failures – not the presence of those seeking a better life. It is a tactic as old as the modern nation-state itself: blaming those seen as ‘outsiders’ or ‘undesirable’ for the failures of political leaders.
But this narrative also conveniently ignores the real factors that have driven economic stagnation and instability over the past few years – Brexit, which has disrupted trade and labour markets; the COVID-19 pandemic, which devastated entire sectors of the economy and exposed the deep inequalities in our society; the cost of living crisis, which has pushed millions more into poverty; and the ongoing war in Ukraine, which has sent energy prices soaring and disrupted global supply chains. Add to this the growing wealth gap and years of deliberate underfunding of public services, and it becomes clear that immigration is not and has never been the problem – it is a convenient scapegoat for a broken economic system.
Yet when asked by a journalist to respond to evidence that immigration boosts economies during the press conference, Starmer chose to ignore these complex realities, insisting instead that rising immigration under the Tories has failed to strengthen the economy. But this is a dishonest and simplistic reading of the past few years. The truth is that without migrants, key sectors like healthcare, social care, construction, and higher education would have collapsed under the weight of these compounding crises. The economy would have shrunk even further without the participation and spending power of even the most marginalised migrants. Immigrants have kept this country running, even as political leaders have chosen to increase their attacks against migrants.
Misplaced Priorities – Inequality, Not Immigration, is the Crisis
The real crisis in this country isn’t immigration – it’s inequality. While political leaders point fingers at migrants, the wealthiest 10% of households hold 41% of all wealth, while the poorest 50% own just 9%. Meanwhile, ordinary workers face stagnant wages, soaring living costs, and crumbling public services. The rich have certainly gotten richer, and this has nothing to do with immigration – it has everything to do with political choices that prioritise profit over people.
The newly released White Paper, titled ‘Restoring Control Over the Immigration System’, lays out a harsh vision for the future – one that frames immigration as the root of the UK’s problems. It promises a crackdown on overseas workers and an end to recruitment in critical sectors like adult social care, which has relied on migrant workers to fill gaps caused by an ageing population, chronic underfunding, and years of mismanagement. This approach risks further destabilising sectors already struggling with severe staffing shortages, poor pay, and exploitative conditions, while ignoring the fundamental role migrants play in keeping our society functioning.
A Narrow, Divisive Approach
The White Paper doubles down on the notion that the answer to economic inequality and instability is restricting immigration – pushing for stricter English language requirements for immigrants, higher salary thresholds for dependents, and extending the qualifying period for settlement and citizenship to 10 years for most immigrants – a policy originally proposed by the Tories, but now embraced by a Labour Party increasingly indistinguishable from their supposed opponents. It also seeks to further limit regular routes by which people migrate to the UK and remain here, disregarding the reality of who migrants are, what our needs are and the many social, cultural, and economic contributions we make to society. This is a deeply flawed approach that weaponises language and culture as barriers, further entrenching systemic inequality for those with precarious immigration statuses or whose statuses have been irregularised.
We know from decades of evidence that immigration boosts the economy, innovation, and resilience of societies. Instead of empowering all workers and acknowledging the value of all work, Labour’s proposals risk undermining entire sectors of the economy. By reinforcing the socially constructed distinction between ‘skilled’ and ‘unskilled’ labour – a tool historically used to devalue the work of women and still used today to marginalise working-class people, racialised communities, and migrants – the government is choosing to maintain the very hierarchies that drive inequality and exploitation. It ignores the reality that all labour has value and that the true measure of a society’s strength is how it treats all of its members, including guests.
Additionally, the focus on “control” and “privileges” over rights, justice and compassion reveals a failure to grasp the real crises facing this country – deepening inequality, a spiralling cost of living, and a gutted welfare state. These are the issues that need addressing, not the false spectre of an immigrant threat.
And Starmer, a supposed ‘human rights’ barrister in his past, is wrong: settlement and citizenship ought to be seen as rights, not ‘privileges.’ These rights must be upheld and extended to all who wish to live in the UK, not used as tools of exclusion or control.
A Call for Courageous, Evidence-Based Politics
Labour’s approach is not the stance of a party committed to social or economic justice. It cannot claim to be the party of working people when working people in Britain come from all over the world. Prioritising only those with British citizenship ignores the reality of our diverse society and only deepens the divides that weaken us all. Placing emphasis on immigration exclusion and raids will only worsen conditions for those in the most precarious situations, driving people further into the shadows and away from the protections that every worker needs. This is a retreat into the same failed policies of division and exclusion that have brought us to this point. Instead of leading with a vision of a just and equitable society, Labour has chosen to walk the same path as those who peddle hate, fear, and falsehoods about migration – dehumanising entire communities of people who make our society not just more wonderful, but fundamentally stronger.
We must demand better. We need policies that confront the real causes of economic insecurity – not ones that use migrants as a convenient scapegoat. We need investment in all people, in public services, in decent wages, and in human security – including a humane, inclusive, rights-based approach to immigration that recognises the dignity and contributions of all people, not just some. We need Rights Not Raids – not on our homes, not on our jobs, not on our lives!
The choice is clear: we can continue down a path of hate and division, or we can build a society that thrives on the contributions of all its people. I definitely know which side I’m on. What about you?
Munya Radzi is the founder and campaigner at Regularise. Sign the open letter for Rights Not Raids and support the call for regularisation and a safer path to settlement and citizenship for all migrants including undocumented people at regularise.org.
Image from 📢 The Great Benefits Myth 🇬🇧: How Migrants Are Denied Help & Blamed for Taking It. Watch here.