Keir Starmer sees himself in a battle against Reform. His speeches just amplify Farage's message
The Prime Minister frames this moment as a crossroads for the country, yet it feels more like one for his government and for Labour itself.
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The rhetoric and policies we see on immigration, trans and non-binary individuals, disabilities, along with others, do nothing to help combat increasing support for Reform.
Instead it reinforces Reform’s messaging. Rather than challenging misinformation about migrants, regardless of how they have entered the country, Labour continues to embed the “crisis” narrative which allows those who are opposed to such marginalised groups to scapegoat them.
On Monday the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, announced anti-immigration measures which, if implemented, would not only go further than previous governments, but also strengthen the idea that migrants are a “problem”, that they are “second class”. This has serious and far-reaching consequences for those who are building their lives here.
On a political level though, rather than “combatting” Reform, it helps promote them, and increases the salience of their arguments, while weakening Labour’s base.
People want change, that was the main pitch Labour made in their 2024 Manifesto. At a time when trust in politics and politicians is declining, change is necessary. It needs to be a positive one though. By focusing on negatives and “anti” messaging, as in anti-immigration, Labour is providing Reform with free advertising for their own policies, while offering nothing genuinely substantive as an alternative.
Labour has proposed positive policies aimed at helping people, but they are drowned out by announcements aimed at chasing Reform.
People continue to face a cost-of-living crisis. They continue to struggle with finding homes, despite roughly one in 25 properties in the UK being vacant. These are the genuine issues facing the country, and issues that Reform is constantly failing to address. Labour needs to shift tack to ensure that not only is it prioritising policies which, substantively, improve people’s lives, but which also counter and combat the hostile rhetoric used against minorities and marginalised groups.
Through the constant pushing of ever tougher “anti” measures, Labour provides an open goal for Reform. If they do not go as far as Farage promises, then he can claim they have failed. If they push further, they will lose the majority of progressive voters and hand Reform a win by default.
Labour is at a crossroads right now. Either it can continue to let Reform set the agenda and continue to push ever more hostile, and frankly unworkable, policies, or it can use its majority to lead the narrative, combat misinformation, and provide people with an optimistic plan for the future which focuses on what can be made better, rather than whose lives can be made worse.
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Daniel Sohege is the Director of human rights consultancy Stand For All, and a specialist in policy and international refugee law.
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