Keir Starmer’s immigration plans: research shows you don’t beat the far right by becoming them

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Chasing racist votes Keir Starmer says that he can be just as racist and cnuty as Nigel Farage.
Chasing racist votes Keir Starmer says that he can be just as racist and cnuty as Nigel Farage.

Katy Brown, Manchester Metropolitan University

As British prime minister Keir Starmer vowed to “finally take back control of our borders” in a landmark speech on immigration on May 12, it felt a little like déjà vu.

Some nine years earlier, we had heard those exact words repeated over and over in the build-up to the Brexit referendum from former prime minister Boris Johnson and the Leave campaign. It was a refrain also used by Nigel Farage and UKIP.

Of course, this direct reference was the point. Starmer used it to claim that the Labour government’s white paper on immigration was finally going to deliver on what had been promised and desired for many years.

In these opening lines, the tone was set. And as the speech went on, there were echoes of far-right language and ideas reverberating throughout. Starmer lamented the “squalid” state of contemporary politics, the “forces” pulling the country apart, and the previous government’s so-called “experiment in open borders”.

This speech and the white paper that it unveiled are but the latest indication of the rightward direction of travel within UK politics, led by mainstream and far-right parties alike – as exemplified in recent months by the footage released of immigration raids and deportations.

Some will argue this is Labour’s response to the rising threat of Reform UK, with results in the recent local elections seen as evidence of the far right’s growing popularity. So the story goes, Labour is proving that they can be tough on immigration, showing would-be Reform defectors that they can be trusted after all.

This familiar narrative seems to follow a prevailing wisdom which is parroted in political, media and public debates – that appeasing the far right is the way to defeat it. Rather than beating the far right at their own game, however, research shows that these techniques simply legitimise their key talking points and further normalise exclusionary politics.

Starmer’s speech is a case in point. In using “take back control” from the outset, there was no hiding the intended audience or message. Starmer claimed that this project would “close the book on a squalid chapter for our politics, our economy, and our country”, implying that excessive immigration has directly caused these problems and that stopping it solves them. This chimes with classic far-right narratives where migration is framed as the root of all societal ills.

When these kinds of ideas are pushed by those in government, with great authority and influence, they are given greater credence and weight. A strikingly clear example of this came in the summer of 2024 when participants in racist riots waved posters containing the slogan “stop the boats” (a phrase popularised by the previous Tory government).

Another component of the speech that was reminiscent of far-right tropes was the idea that increased immigration was a deliberate tactic by the previous government. Starmer suggested that the Conservatives were actively pursuing a “one-nation experiment in open borders” while deceiving the British public of their intentions.

Far-right conspiracies are often premised on the idea that elites are deliberately encouraging mass immigration. It’s not hard to see how Starmer’s words could act as a dog whistle in this scenario.

These claims are especially damaging when we think about the draconian measures introduced under former Conservative governments, such as the Rwanda policy. Labour is now indicating that these proposals didn’t go far enough.

To justify bringing far stricter immigration rules, Starmer stated that “for the vast majority of people in this country, that is what they have long wanted to see”. As far-right parties so often do, Labour suggests that they are delivering on “people’s priorities”. Yet are they really a priority for people, or are we told that they are a priority which then makes them more of a priority?

Research by Aurelien Mondon, senior lecturer in politics at the University of Bath, illustrates how people’s personal and national priorities differ dramatically. When people in the UK were asked to name the two most important issues facing them personally, immigration didn’t even make it into the top ten.

However, when asked the same question about the issues facing their country, immigration topped the list. How can something that doesn’t affect you in your day-to-day life suddenly become a top priority for your country? We need to challenge the narrative that the government is simply acting on people’s wishes and acknowledge its own capacity to set the agenda.

Other priorities

Some will say that harsher anti-immigration policies are a necessary evil to defeat the far right. However, if people’s personal priorities are really the cost of living, housing and education, why is the government not focusing more of its energy on these things rather than scapegoating migrants?

What’s more, research shows that even based on these terms, these strategies are ineffective and can actually boost the success of the far right electorally. After all, its ideas are being repeatedly normalised.

In all this tactical talk, we lose sight of the fact that people are living the consequences of this rhetoric and policies right now. Rather than focus on Reform’s potential performance in a general election that is probably years away, we should recognise the immediate consequences of the rhetoric that has accompanied this white paper. Even if this did put a dent in Reform’s prospects, what is the meaning of defeating them if the policies they promote become part of the mainstream in the process?

The bottom line is that you do not beat the far right by becoming them. It doesn’t work electorally or ideologically, and even if it did, minoritised communities suffer the consequences regardless. The far right is not some threat lying waiting in the future – its normalisation is happening now.

Katy Brown, Research Fellow in Language and Social Justice, Manchester Metropolitan University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
Keir Starmer says that the Labour Party under his leadership all feel a small part of Scunthorpe.
Keir Starmer says that the Labour Party under his leadership all feel a small part of Scunthorpe.
Continue ReadingKeir Starmer’s immigration plans: research shows you don’t beat the far right by becoming them

Labour delivers ‘crushing blow to Britain’s fragile care sector’

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/labour-delivers-crushing-blow-britains-fragile-care-sector

 Home Secretary Yvette Cooper makes a speech at the Organised Immigration Crime Summit at Lancaster House in central London, March 31, 2025

Unions and campaigners condemn Home Secretary after government confirms scrapping of care worker visas

UNIONS and campaigners have condemned Labour’s immigration reforms after Home Secretary Yvette Cooper confirmed that the government will scrap the care worker visa for overseas recruitment.

Announcing the policy ahead of Monday’s Immigration White Paper, Ms Cooper said the visa route would be closed to “prevent” international recruitment for care jobs, though companies may continue to employ people already in Britain on care visas whose sponsorship has subsequently been cancelled.

The White Paper will also change skilled visa thresholds to graduate-level and includes tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.The legislation aims to bring down net migration — the number of foreign nationals who arrive in Britain, minus the number of people who leave — which stood at 728,000 in 2024.

Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said: “The NHS and the care sector would have collapsed long ago without the thousands of workers who’ve come to the UK from overseas.

“Migrant health and care staff already here will now be understandably anxious about what’s to happen to them. “The government must reassure these overseas workers they’ll be allowed to stay and continue with their indispensable work.”

Ms McAnea, whose union represents NHS and care workers, said that care workers from around the world “no longer want” to come to Britain due to “hostile” policies, bans on bringing family members, and widespread exploitation by unscrupulous employers.

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/labour-delivers-crushing-blow-britains-fragile-care-sector

dizzy: This appears a very stupid, short-sighted step but then that is this Fascist Labour party. What do they hope to achieve? To look tough on migration by stopping foreign workers willing to be paid a pittance for wiping UK asses and exploited by their UK employers in other ways? Migrant agricultural workers too?

Keir Starmer says that the Labour Party under his leadership all feel a small part of Scunthorpe.
Keir Starmer says that the Labour Party under his leadership all feel a small part of Scunthorpe.
Continue ReadingLabour delivers ‘crushing blow to Britain’s fragile care sector’

Thames Water’s Prospective New Owner Donated $1 Million to Trump’s Inauguration

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Original article by Sam Bright and Adam Barnett republished from DeSmog.

U.S. President Donald Trump next to the Thames Water and KKR logos. DeSmog collage. Credit: Gage Skidmore / Thames Water / KKR

The U.S. private equity firm KKR, which has been selected as the ‘preferred bidder’ for the takeover of Thames Water, gave a seven-figure sum to Donald Trump’s inauguration committee, DeSmog can report.

Official records show that Kohlberg Kravis Roberts Co LP (KKR) donated $1 million to the Trump Vance Inaugural Committee on 7 January. The committee is appointed by the president-elect to arrange the inauguration ceremony, when a U.S. president is formally sworn into office.

The embattled London-based utilities provider Thames Water, in debt to the tune of £20 billion, is attempting to secure new investment to save it from nationalisation. In March, KKR was granted preferred bidder status, giving it a 10-week period to raise the equity to buy the water company.

KKR is reported to have lodged an initial £4 billion bid in exchange for a majority stake in Thames Water, which serves 16 million customers.

However, campaigners have raised concerns about KKR’s suitability to own Thames Water, given its financial ties to Trump.

“KKR recently donated $1 million to the inauguration fund of President Trump, a man who has repeatedly called the climate crisis a hoax,” said Matthew Topham, lead campaigner at the pro-nationalisation campaign group We Own It. “Let’s not kid ourselves that this company will swoop in and clean up our rivers and lakes.

“The government has ducked the issue for too long – special administration to slash the rotten debt, then full public ownership, is the only way to reverse this catastrophe.”

The new Trump administration has initiated a bonfire of clean air and water regulations – rules that were set to save the lives of 200,000 people according to The Guardian. Gina McCarthy, chair of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under former U.S. President Barack Obama, said the announcement of the mass rollbacks was the “most disastrous day in EPA history”. During his first term, from 2017 to 2021, Trump repealed more than 100 environmental regulations.

Since being inaugurated for a second time, Trump has pledged to once again withdraw the U.S. from the flagship 2015 Paris Agreement, which set an international target for limiting global warming, and has declared a “national energy emergency” to allow the U.S. to “drill, baby, drill” for new fossil fuels. 

KKR’s prospective ownership of a vital public utility has also been questioned on the basis of the U.S. firm’s business model. Private equity firms – which buy and restructure companies – are known to cut costs, and increase prices for consumers, in order to maximise their profits.

KKR was infamously dubbed the “Barbarians at the Gate” in the late 1980s for its takeover of U.S. conglomerate RJR Nabisco.

“It beggars belief that anyone could seriously think this is a business model and owner who will truly fix the crisis at Thames Water,” said Mathew Lawrence, director of the think tank Common Wealth. “It is exactly the behaviour of loading Thames Water up with debt, extracting money, and underinvesting that has led us to this point. What is needed is long-term stewardship, patient investment, and putting the public and our water system first for once – not the interests of elite financial firms.”

These sentiments were reflected in Parliament this week, through a House of Lords address by Labour peer Prem Sikka. “Thames Water was put on the road to ruin by private equity,” he said. “Now its shareholders have designated KKR, another private equity group, as their preferred bidder. KKR’s business model is profiteering, high leverage, low investment, asset stripping and high cash extraction. That will inevitably multiply Thames’s problems.”

KKR and Thames Water were approached for comment.

Debt and Donations

Thames Water’s debt ballooned under the ownership of Australian private equity firm Macquarie, increasing from £3.4 billion in 2006 to £10.8 billion when the firm sold its stake in 2017.

During Macquarie’s ownership of Thames Water, the private equity firm extracted roughly £2.7 billion in dividends and a further £2.2 billion in loans. Despite this, Macquarie has recently said that it is “very proud” of its ownership record.

KKR’s preliminary bid proposed a mechanism that would allow the holders of Thames Water debt – including the U.S. hedge fund Elliott Management – to become Thames Water shareholders.

Elliott Management is an activist hedge fund that recently built up a large stake in BP and has urged the British fossil fuel major to ditch a number of its green commitments. BP’s profits recently dropped by 48 percent amid this pivot back to oil and gas. The hedge fund is run by Paul Singer, who also donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration committee.

Turning around the performance of Thames Water will take considerable investment and business acumen. Thames Water reported a 40 percent increase in pollution incidents in the first half of 2024, while the firm has been allowed to raise customer bills by 35 percent on average over the upcoming years. Senior KKR Europe executive Johannes Huth said last year that water bills must rise to boost investment in ageing infrastructure.

KKR also has a 25 percent stake in Northumbrian Water, which it acquired in 2022.

KKR’s Connections

In addition to its donation to Trump’s inauguration fund, KKR has other ties to fossil fuels and those who oppose climate action.

Analysis by the investigative group Private Equity Climate Risks published in April 2024 reported that KKR has a large fossil fuel portfolio, with 188 assets in 21 countries.

KKR has also created a $50 billion fund with Energy Capital Partners to invest in artificial intelligence (AI) data centre energy infrastructure. Data centres are heavily energy intensive, and DeSmog recently revealed that AI executives have told major polluters that the nascent industry can keep fossil fuels alive.

KKR is also the co-owner of Marshall Wace, a hedge fund co-founded by UK media baron Paul Marshall, holding a 39.9 percent stake as of June 2023. The same month, Marshall Wace reported investments of at least £1.8 billion in fossil fuels companies, including in the oil and gas giants Shell, Chevron, and Equinor.

Marshall is the co-owner of GB News, a broadcaster that has frequently given a platform to climate falsehoods, and is an opponent of policies to reach net zero emissions.

Speaking at a conference in February hosted by the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC), a group funded by Marshall, he said that the UK’s net zero plans are “leading the way in wrecking our industrial base”, “impoverishing people”, “sacrificing our energy security”, and “sacrificing our ancient rural landscape.”

The UK’s net zero sector is growing at three times the rate of the rest of the economy, according to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).

DeSmog also revealed that Warren Stephens, Trump’s ambassador to the UK, donated $4 million to the president’s inauguration fund on the day that he was nominated for the diplomatic position.

The inauguration committee raised a record $239 million, including from fossil fuel giants Chevron ($2 million), ExxonMobil ($1 million), the U.S. branches of BP and Shell ($500,000 each), and Valero ($250,000).

Original article by Sam Bright and Adam Barnett republished from DeSmog.

Continue ReadingThames Water’s Prospective New Owner Donated $1 Million to Trump’s Inauguration

We need to sweep these genocidal Neo-Fascist scum away

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UK Labour Party government Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are participants and complicit in Israel's Gaza genocide providing Israel with army and air force support. They explain that they don't do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
UK Labour Party government Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are participants and complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide providing Israel with army and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.

Neo-Fascist because they are pursuing racist genocide just like the Nazis did. The Nazis were the New Fascists when they were in power.

I would like to see the whole Labour government and more – members of the military and air force – prosecuted for genocide, war crimes or even strung up.

We have to realise that USA, UK and Israel are partners in this genocide. The USA provide many arms, The UK provides many arms and has provided military and air force support from the outset. Now the USA and UK assist in bombing Yemen.

Nobody can seriously say that it is not genocide. The UK Labour Party are committing genocide.

Continue ReadingWe need to sweep these genocidal Neo-Fascist scum away

Thoughts of the Day 6 May 2025

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Keir Starmer warns against following the https://onaquietday.org blog.
Keir Starmer warns against following the https://onaquietday.org blog.

We haven’t had Dr. Carole Buckley for a very long time.

I’m getting it because of this, because I’m a political activist, because I’m a Socialist.

This is how it works.

I made a complaint that Dr. Carole Buckley had hypnotised me against my will and without my consent. I think that this was 2016, look in the archives.

I had a mental health assessment in 2016/2017 or so. The mental health nurse was a drunken alcoholic inadequate. I consented to the assessment because he said that everything would be shared with me. He shat on me. I complained but all I can do is avoid these cnuts in future.

I go to a hospital and say that I suffer from Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and Dissociative Amnesia (DA). Since I have mental health issues there is a safegarding duty. Not only can the hospital find no mention of DID or DA but they come across serious lies by Dr. Carole Buckley that increase hostility towards me 200%. Instead of being safeguarded, I’m persecuted. A hospital security guard said to me “I don’t like you.” WTF is that? The point is Carole Buckley has to lie otherwise she has no right to hypnotise me without my consent and against my will. She filmed me while I was hypnotised but it’s easy enough to say I want you to say this …

There is no evidence of course, only Carole Buckley’s lies. “While under hypnosis he confided that …”

I would like the evil sow prosecuted and locked up. That’s unlikely to happen unfortunately.

ed: Has she done it to others? Is she a serial cnut?

Continue ReadingThoughts of the Day 6 May 2025