Labour just played into the far-right’s hands and legitimised the race riots at the same time

The Labour Party government has announced new measures to curb the arrival of asylum seekers on boats from France and to step up the removal of failed asylum seekers. This includes increasing capacity at detention centres pioneered under Tony Blair’s government. It shows that, far from offering ‘change’, Labour has effectively played into the far-right’s narrative in the wake of the recent race riots – with some accusing it of legitimising them.

Labour: stop the boats and send them home

Labour said 100 new “specialist intelligence and investigation officers” would be recruited to the National Crime Agency (NCA) to help dismantle smuggling gangs that run the dangerous Channel crossings.

The Home Office added that the government also aims over the next six months to achieve the highest rate of deportations of failed asylum seekers for five years. The goal is to remove more than 14,000 people by the end of the year, according to the Times.

The new Labour government intends to increase detention capacity at removal centres and sanction employers who hire people with no right to work in the UK. Home secretary Yvette Cooper said:

We are taking strong and clear steps to boost our border security and ensure the rules are respected and enforced.

Stopping the small boat arrivals was a key issue in the 4 July election, in which Labour won a thumping majority.

Labour: back to the even badder old days

Within days of taking power, prime minister Keir Starmer scrapped a controversial scheme to deport illegal migrants to Rwanda, which had been a flagship policy of the last Conservative government.

Starmer has instead pledged to dismantle the people-smuggling gangs who organise the crossings and are paid thousands of euros by each migrant.

The Home Office is recruiting a so-called Border Security Commander who will work with European countries against the people-smuggling gangs.

Starmer has also pledged with French president Emmanuel Macron to strengthen “cooperation” in handling the surge in undocumented migrant numbers.

The Home Office said the NCA is pursuing about 70 investigations against criminal networks involved in people trafficking. It said the government would issue financial penalty notices, business closure orders and bring possible prosecutions against anyone employing “illegal” workers.

The department also said it was adding 290 beds to two removal centres and redeploying staff to try to remove failed asylum seekers at the highest rate since 2018. The Home Office did not give figures on the numbers involved.

Starmer giving credence to the far right

However, people on X were quick to point out just what Labour was doing:

Yvette Cooper’s borders announcement today is a betrayal of everyone who voted for change.

Ten days since racists attacked asylum seekers & mosques & today Labour announce they’re ramping up the failed narrative that we can just get rid of the people we don’t want here. #r4today

— Zoe Gardner (@ZoeJardiniere) August 21, 2024

Minnie Rahman of migrant rights group Praxis accused Labour of “legitimising the far right”:

Labour are legitimatising the far-right today by targeting asylum seekers (again) less than 3 weeks after a wave of violence. The policies announced today are a jumble of measures that won’t resolve anything. More of the same.

— Minnie Rahman (@minnierahman) August 21, 2024

And, as the Green Party’s Peter Underwood summed up – Labour has still done nothing about safe routes:

Far-right thugs – Labour are recruiting 100 Specialist Staff to hunt down refugees and send them to the camps

A Government with any sense of decency would provide safe routes for asylum seekers and give them the help and support they deservehttps://t.co/syZ3joTjqU

— Peter Underwood (He/Him) 💚 (@GreenPeterU) August 21, 2024

Enver Solomon, of the Refugee Council, accused the government of “wasting taxpayers’ money on expanding detention places” and said it should be investing in voluntary returns programmes.

If you treat people with respect, humanity and support them to return, many more people return.

Enver also urged ministers to focus on providing safe routes to deter small boat crossings, arguing “unless the government also provides safe routes, it won’t succeed”.

Ultimately, it seems that Labour is quite happy to continue the Tories ‘hostile environment‘ for refugees and asylum seekers – which is exactly what the far right want.

Featured image via the Canary

Additional reporting via Agence France-Presse