Labour’s new ‘Denmark style’ immigration plan looks like Reform in a red tie

As Reform have risen in the polls, Labour have attempted to combat them by copying them. There’s a problem with this, of course, and it’s that by mirroring Reform’s rhetoric, Labour are essentially telling voters that Farage is correct; that he’s ahead of the curve, in fact. Now, in an effort to look like they’re in front of Farage, they’re eyeing up a Denmark-style immigration policy.

Clive Lewis is among those calling this out:

Oh great. The worst of both worlds.

When an authoritarian mindset takes hold of a marketised state, what emerges isn’t security but cruelty in the form of a low-trust, low-investment society that manages poverty instead of abolishing it.

Denmark’s Social Democrats turned… pic.twitter.com/uUXUpXr4WP

— Clive Lewis MP (@labourlewis) November 8, 2025

Labour — “Race to the bottom”

As reported by the Guardian, Home Office officials travelled to Denmark to learn more about its border and asylum policies, which include “tighter rules on family reunions and restricting some refugees to a temporary stay”. They additionally reported:

Denmark has also barred those who live in housing estates designated as “parallel societies” by the government – where more than 50% of residents are from what it considers to be “non-western” backgrounds – from being granted family reunion.

In 2021, Denmark passed a law enabling it to process asylum seekers outside Europe, which drew anger from human rights advocates, the UN and the European Commission.

Labour MPs who have spoken out include Nadia Whittome:

Chasing Reform’s tail on issues like migration is a race to the bottom.

Instead, Labour must unashamedly stand up for everyone’s rights and tackle the obscene wealth inequality that is harming our society.

Me for @Independent:https://t.co/11IDTbqAMj

— Nadia Whittome MP (@NadiaWhittomeMP) November 8, 2025

In article on why Labour should look to New York mayor Zohran Mamdani instead of Nigel Farage, Whittome wrote:

Voters are desperate for real change in their lives, but right now our government is only offering tweaks – hardly reassuring for households on the breadline or behind on their rent. From Mamdani to Zack Polanski, politicians willing to take on the status quo on both sides of the Atlantic are surging. We can’t bury our heads in the sand to this reality. With a huge parliamentary majority, Labour has the power to make bold economic reforms now, not at the next general election in a face-off with Nigel Farage’s Reform.

Yet instead, this government seems trapped in defensive politics. Chasing the Reform vote has been a failing strategy, one that has created an ugly race-to-the-bottom on issues like migration and the rights of minority groups. In contrast, Mamdani’s inclusive campaign confidently addressed topics such as Gaza, trans rights and migration. Rather than retreating from the attacks of his political opponents, he confronted these issues in a way that resonated with much of the electorate.

Speaking to BBC News on Labour’s plan to mimic the Danish system, Whittome said:

The argument for it is very shaky because what you find is that even when you do win over anti immigration voters you’re losing progressive voters who are pro immigration. It’s a zero sum game

“The worst of both worlds”

In a post made to X/Twitter, Clive Lewis detailed the problems with Labour’s new Denmark-style ambitions:

Oh great. The worst of both worlds.

When an authoritarian mindset takes hold of a marketised state, what emerges isn’t security but cruelty in the form of a low-trust, low-investment society that manages poverty instead of abolishing it.

Denmark’s Social Democrats turned sharply towards deterrence and exclusion: offshoring asylum, revoking residency, and framing refugees as a burden.

It’s an ugly, illiberal turn that has cost them dearly, splitting their voter base (they have PR so less of an issue).

But crucially, it happened inside a high-trust, high-welfare society. One where people pay high taxes and, in return, receive universal healthcare, free education, generous childcare, low levels of inequality and strong worker protections.
The social contract remains visible. People see what they get.

The UK, by contrast, is imitating the fear without the fairness. Copying the deterrence, the moral posturing, the rhetoric of “control”, but still pushing benefit-austerity, outsourcing, privatising and means-testing its way through public services.

Welfare here isn’t a safety net; it’s a maze of sanctions, stigma, and corporate contracts.
That’s the real danger. An authoritarian mindset grafted onto a hollowed-out, marketised state that produces something worse than Denmark’s model: a low-trust, low-investment society that polices poverty instead of preventing it.

When a progressive party adopts the logic of its opponents – that migrants are a threat, that order must come before rights, that the state’s job is to manage people rather than empower them – it doesn’t neutralise the authoritarian right. It normalises it.

The outcome isn’t a strong or fair society – it’s an increasingly authoritarian one – with government strong enough to punish, but too weak to care.

Secure the borders, open safe-routes, democratise immigration, operate an efficient asylum system and invest in well-funded, universal, public services/housing.

It’s not rocket science.

Futility

What Labour need to understand is that if they halve migration, Reform and the Tories won’t lessen their rhetoric; they’ll simply cry that half is still too many. Labour could get migration down to just one guy a year, and all that would happen would be this one migrant would receive more media attention than the King.

This is the game that the right are playing. They’re not hammering away at migration because they give a shit; they’re hammering at it because it’s been effective.

The reality is that abolishing migration would be a massive headache for the capitalists who back right-wing parties, which is why the Tories talked endlessly about the ‘hostile environment‘ without reducing the number of people who come here.

Labour MPs are right to point out how their party can become something better, but let’s be real; the last thing Keir Starmer would ever consider is a good idea.

Featured image via Clive Lewis (YouTube) / Guardian News (YouTube)