
Keir Starmer's immigration plans are coming under fire from political rivals, his own MPs, businesses and industry leaders this morning.
The Prime Minister warned the UK is at risk of becoming an "island of strangers" because integration has failed as he vowed to "significantly" reduce net migration.
Sir Keir unveiled proposals to ramp up deportations by increasing the number of offenders eligible for removals, overhaul how Article 8 of the ECHR is used in immigration cases, scrap the social care visa route, require foreign workers to take graduate level jobs and boost English language skills.
The Prime Minister's flagship proposals are expected to reduce the number of people coming to the UK by 100,000 per year.
But Labour backbenchers were among those who attacked Sir Keir for the language he used to announce the plans on Monday, including his claim the UK risks becoming an "island of strangers" if ministers do not act on migration.
Sheffield Hallam MP Olivia Blake suggested the phrase could "risk legitimising the same far-right violence we saw in last year's summer riots".
Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, who lost the Labour whip last year, accused Sir Keir of "reflecting the language" of Enoch Powell's infamous "rivers of blood" speech in the 1960s.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper defended the Prime Minister's language and disagreed with his critics: "I think part of the point that he (Sir Keir) is making is that we have to recognise people have come to the UK through generations to do really important jobs in our NHS, founding our biggest businesses, doing some of the most difficult jobs, but it's because that's important, the system has to be controlled and managed, and it just hasn't been."
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