Starmer calling Reform immigration policy racist' is the start of a risky wider argument

"But this Sunday the prime minister went further. It was racist, he said, unequivocally, for Reform UK to end indefinite leave to remain, a policy that threatens the lives of people long settled in Britain. I do think it is a racist policy, he told the BBC. I do think it's immoral and it's to be called out for what it is. Starmer's words in his conference interview were the start of a bigger argument that he will make in his speech on Tuesday."

"Starmer and senior strategists think Reform's policy on indefinite leave to remain has been an overreach. It is far beyond the pale for most voters, as polling shows. To call out Reform's policy as racist is quite the escalation from two months ago when No 10 declined to respond to several Reform proposals over the summer, including plans for the mass deportation of asylum seekers."

"Aides say the accusation of racism is justified in this particular case because of who Nigel Farage would target with his draconian policy. They are not the mainly white EU citizens here with settled status, which Reform has hastily clarified that it would exempt. But it would threaten to tear families apart who have long been settled, working and raising families in the UK."

Politicians employ euphemisms when addressing the extreme right, with Keir Starmer initially using 'divisive' and then explicitly calling Reform UK's plan to end indefinite leave to remain racist and immoral. Starmer's interview comment launched a larger argument he intends to set out in an aggressive conference speech acknowledging decades of pressure on working people while rejecting Reform UK's offerings. Senior strategists view Reform's policy as an overreach that polling suggests is beyond the pale for most voters. The accusation represents an escalation from earlier government silence on Reform proposals, including mass deportation plans. Aides justify the racism charge because the policy would target long-settled families and public-sector workers.

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