Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer brands Reform UK’s immigration policy ‘racist’ saying it ‘needs to be called out for what it is’

The Prime Minister has branded Reform UK’s immigration policy ‘racist’. Sir Keir Starmer was referring to Nigel Farage’s party pledging to scrap settled status for all non-EU migrants.

Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, the PM said the policy, which would require those who have been granted indefinite leave to remain to re-apply under much stricter rules, “needs to be called out for what it is”..

Indefinite leave to remain is the status which grants legal migrants the ability to settle in the UK without the need to renew a visa every few years. Sir Starmer’s remarks come after Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said she wants to tighten rules around claiming indefinite leave to remain and “make sure that people are making a contribution to their wider community and wider society”.

Sir Keir said: “It is one thing to say we’re going to remove illegal migrants, people who have no right to be here. I’m up for that. It is a completely different thing to say we are going to reach in to people who are lawfully here and start removing them. They are our neighbours.”

Asked directly about Reform UK’s policy, he said: “I do think that it is a racist policy. I do think it is immoral. It needs to be called out for what it is.”

Pressed on whether Reform is trying to appeal to racists, Sir Keir said: “No, I think there are plenty of people who either vote Reform or are thinking of voting Reform who are frustrated. They had 14 years of failure under the Conservatives, they want us to change things.

“They may have voted Labour a year ago, and they want the change to come more quickly. I actually do understand that.”

Speaking to The Sun On Sunday, Ms Mahmood said ministers are looking at how to make sure indefinite leave to remain “is linked not just to the job you are doing”, but also “the wider contribution you are making to our communities”.

She said: “We need legal migration, it is a good thing. We are a country that has always welcomed people who want to come and work here. But I think in addition to living and working here there is a bigger thing to do as well which is to make sure that people are making a contribution to their wider community and wider society.”

Sir Keir also pledged to put an end to taxpayer-funded taxis for asylum seekers travelling to doctor’s appointments “as soon as we can”. Additionally, the Prime Minister said he hopes to “bring forward” the 2029 deadline set by the Government to close all asylum hotels.

“I’m looking at alternative accommodation and doing everything we can to bring that forward,” he said.

Zia Yusuf, Reform UK’s head of policy, said: “Labour’s message to the country is clear: pay hundreds of billions for foreign nationals to live off the state forever, or Labour will call you racist. Reform’s plan will ensure only British people can access welfare and that migrants contribute to society.”