KEIR Starmer has been slammed for “racist” comments about asylum seekers – after blaming them for putting pressure on cash-strapped public services.
The Prime Minister made the “disgusting” remarks as he marked the opening of the Organised Immigration Crime Summit on Monday morning.
The UK Government has convened more than 40 countries for talks on tackling illegal migration, including representatives from Albania, Vietnam, Iraq, France, the US and China.
Speaking ahead of the talks, Starmer said: “Illegal migration is a massive driver of global insecurity. It undermines our ability to control who comes here, and that makes people angry.
“It makes me angry, frankly, because it’s unfair on ordinary working people who pay the price – from the cost of hotels, to our public services struggling under the strain.”
The UK Government spent £3 billion on hotel accommodation for asylum seekers in the last financial year. Because there are so few legal routes by which to come to Britain, asylum seekers cross the English Channel in small boats, a method the Government considers illegal.
Starmer’s comments drew sharp criticism from the Scottish Greens, who said asylum seekers were not to blame for the cost of living or housing crises.
Maggie Chapman (above), the party’s human rights spokesperson, told The National: “Refugees and asylum seekers are not responsible for the cost-of-living crisis. They are not responsible for the housing crisis. They are not responsible for cuts to healthcare or local services.
"Yet Keir Starmer's approach is to continue demonising and punishing them rather than addressing any of the issues that make people risk their lives on small boats. This is as racist as it is disgusting.”
She called on the UK Government to create a “more humane and effective system”, including offering “safe routes” for asylum seekers.
Chapman added: “Seeking sanctuary is a right, and Starmer should, instead, be removing the unnecessary and racist blocks that migrants face around living and working here.
"The Prime Minister is talking about the impact on public finances, but refugees and people seeking asylum are being forced into destitution. It is this punitive system that is driving exploitation and organised crime. Cracking down on migrants won't solve the issue.
"Like so much of what Labour is doing, this is a cynical and short-sighted response to the rise of Reform. You can't beat Farage by taking all of his policies and talking points and it is wrong and deeply counterproductive to even try.”
It comes as the UK Government hailed figures which showed there have been 24,103 deportations since Labour came to power until March 22, of which 6781 were rejected asylum seekers.
This year so far, almost 30,000 people have arrived in Britain on small boats.
Measures Labour have announced to tackle illegal migration include extending right-to-work checks to include gig economy workers such as Deliveroo riders and £1m will be spent on tackling people smuggling gangs operating in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
The UK Government has also produced social media adverts to be shown on Vietnamese social media, discouraging people from trusting people smugglers.
In what would be a highly controversial move, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has also suggested the Government could scrap Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which blocks deportations on the grounds of the right to a family life.
The UK Government was approached for comment.
