Channel crossings: Keir Starmer faces Labour revolt over stance on refugees

Sir Keir Starmer is facing a revolt from his supporters over Labour’s stance on refugees, amid claims that the party is “turning a blind eye” to desperate people trying to make it to the UK across the Channel.

Labour members were angered after the front bench criticised the government’s “incompetence” in dealing with migrants arriving by dinghy, instead of defending their right to claim asylum in Britain – which is protected by the UN refugee convention.

Home secretary Priti Patel has said she could send in the royal navy to intercept the boats, after Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage accused a group of people arriving on a Kent beach of an “invasion”.

Open Labour, a soft-left grouping which welcomed Sir Keir as leader, and the Labour Campaign for Free Movement, which worked with him on Brexit, are among critics who say the party’s position on the issue is unacceptable.

An open letter with 300 signatures, including MPs Kate Osamor and Clive Lewis, calls on “the Labour leadership, our parliamentary representatives and our trade unions to join us in condemning the government, and campaigning for an immigration system that advances the rights of all working people – not divides us by the colour of our passports”.

A separate petition on the issue organised by left-wing group Momentum also calls on Sir Keir “to end his silence on the scapegoating of refugees and migrants” and has gathered about 4,000 signatures.

Critics of the leadership’s stance point to Sir Keir’s leadership campaign pledge to “defend migrants’ rights”, which included a promise to call for the closure of immigration detention centres like Yarl’s Wood. It said as leader Sir Keir would push for an “immigration system based on compassion and dignity”.

They also highlight the party’s policy on refugees, set at its 2019 conference, strongly endorsing free movement and migrants’ rights.

“While the most recent crisis with migrants arriving to the UK shores was used to distract from government failure elsewhere, Labour cannot turn a blind eye, pretend it isn’t happening, or vaguely plead with the government for more ‘competent’ border violence,” said Alena Ivanova from Labour Campaign for Free Movement.