PM takes aim at 'toxic' Reform as Labour conference gets going
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EPA Shutterstock Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria arrive in Liverpool ahead of the conference which runs from 28 September to 1 October
The prime minister has warned Reform UK "will tear this country apart" ahead of the Labour party conference. Arriving in Liverpool on Saturday, Sir Keir Starmer said Reform's plans to abolish indefinite leave to remain (ILR) for legal migrants was one of "the most shocking things" Nigel Farage's party had said. Sir Keir said the conference would be an opportunity to show Labour's alternative to the "toxic divide and decline" offered by Reform. He is under pressure after opinion polls show Labour trailing Reform UK, alongside speculation Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham could mount a leadership challenge.
But in an interview with the Sunday Times, Sir Keir insisted Labour could still "pull this round", and said it was time for Labour to put in the "hard yards, roll up our sleeves and get on with it". Farage told the Telegraph, Sir Keir's language "smacks, frankly, of total desperation" after the prime minister referred to Reform as an "enemy" in an interview with the Guardian. "To call somebody in politics an enemy is language that is bordering on the inciteful," he added.
Arriving at the conference centre in Liverpool, Sir Keir said it would be a "big opportunity to make our case to the country, and make it absolutely clear that patriotic national renewal is the way forwards - not the toxic divide and decline that we get with Reform". He continued the attacks as the conference got under way, telling the Sunday Mirror Farage was "grubby", and that the Reform leader was "unpatriotic" for pretending he would fix problems that mattered to voters. "Add to that that he spends more time grubbing around in America, trying to make money for himself than he does representing his constituents," he said. "He goes there not just to make money, but to talk our country down. The leader of a political party going to another country to talk his own country down. Grubby." Comparisons with Reform could be a theme of this conference, as Sir Keir tries to portray his party as a patriotic alternative to Reform, who continue to lead opinion polls. Last week, Reform announced it will replace ILR with visas and force migrants to reapply every five years, if the party wins the next election. That includes hundreds of thousands of migrants currently in the UK. Applicants would also have to meet certain criteria, including a higher salary threshold and standard of English. ILR is a key route to gaining British citizenship and allows people to claim benefits. According to a YouGov poll published on Saturday, abolishing indefinite leave to remain divides the public, with 58% of Britons opposed to removing it from those who already hold it. But more than 44% say they support ending ILR as a policy, while 43% are opposed to the idea. During a visit to the office of newspaper Liverpool Echo, Sir Keir said: "These are people who have been in our country a long time, are contributing to our society, maybe working in, I don't know, hospitals, schools, running businesses - our neighbours, and Reform says it wants to deport them in certain circumstances. "I think it is a real sign of just how divisive they are and that their politics and their policies will tear this country apart." In an interview with the Sun on Sunday, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said legal migration was a "good thing" and the UK had "always welcomed people who want to come and work here". However, she said migrants should make a "contribution to their wider community". "So I am looking at how to make sure that settlement in our country - long term settlement, Indefinite Leave to Remain - is linked not just to the job you are doing, the salary you get, the taxes you pay, [but] also the wider contribution you are making to our communities," she added.
PA Media Sir Keir defended his plans to give 16 and 17-year-olds the vote in a Q&A with teens
[SRC] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0xzdgyx0do
