Political reporter, BBC Wales News
Sir Keir Starmer has accused Plaid Cymru’s parliamentary leader of talking “rubbish”, after she criticised his warning that the UK risks becoming an “island of strangers” without changes to its immigration system.
In Prime Minister’s Questions, Liz Saville Roberts asked him if there was “any belief he holds which survives a week in Downing Street?”
“Yes, the belief that she talks rubbish,” Sir Keir replied.
Defending remarks he made on Monday, he told MPs the UK needs an immigration “system based on principles of control, selection and fairness”.
On Monday, the prime minister unveiled plans to ban recruitment of care workers from overseas, tighten access to skilled worker visas and raise the costs to employers in an effort to curb near record net migration.
This, he promised, would mean net migration falling “significantly” over the next four years.
He told broadcasters the UK risks “becoming an island of strangers” without strong rules on immigration and integration.
In the Senedd on Tuesday, Welsh First Minster Eluned Morgan declined to endorse the island of strangers claim, saying she would not use “divisive language”.
Some Labour MPs have also called Sir Keir’s choice of words on the subject divisive.
In Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions, Saville Roberts told the Commons: “This prime minister once spoke of compassion and dignity for migrants, and for defending free movement.
“Now he talks of ‘islands of strangers’ and ‘taking back control’. Somebody here has to call this out.
“It seems the only principle he consistently defends is whichever he last heard in a focus group. So I ask him, is there any belief he holds which survives a week in Downing Street?”
Sir Keir replied: “Yes, the belief that she talks rubbish.”
“I want to lead a country where we pull together and walk into the future as neighbours and as communities, not as strangers, and the loss of control of migration by the last government put all of that at risk, and that’s why we’re fixing the system based on principles of control, selection and fairness,” he added.
‘Struck a nerve’
After Prime Minister’s Questions, Saville Roberts said Sir Keir’s “outburst” showed “my question struck a nerve”.
“The expressions on the faces of many Labour MPs told their own story – plenty of them know I was right,” she said.
“If his convictions change with the political weather, it’s no surprise that support for Labour in Wales, as across Britain, is falling through the floor.”
On Tuesday, Eluned Morgan warned she was “extremely concerned about our ability to recruit to the care sector” and “people need to recognise that there is a direct knock-on effect on hospital waits and how long people have to wait in emergency departments because of the fragility of the care sector”.
