Yvette Cooper Refuses To Repeat Keir Starmer's 'Island Of Strangers' Claim

Prime minister Keir Starmer and home secretary Yvette Cooper have announced a crackdown on migration.Yvette Cooper refused to repeat Keir Starmer’s divisive claim that “Britain risks becoming an island of strangers” this morning.The prime minister uttered the incendiary phrase on Monday while announcing his immigration crackdown.It instantly attracted comparisons with former Tory minister Enoch Powell, who claimed in the 1960s that white people would become “strangers” in their own land if migration continued to rise.On LBC this morning, presenter Nick Ferrari asked home secretary Cooper: “Do you think we live in an island of strangers?”She replied: “I think our country has benefitted over very many years through generations through people coming to the UK, being part of our communities and working in our public services.“But I also think the level of migration needs to be controlled and managed, and it needs to come down and that’s important.”She pointed to the spike in migration while investment in skills and training were cut.Ferrari pushed: “So we are living in a partial island of strangers, then?”The minister said: “I think, er, we are a country –”Ferrari cut in: “Either we are or we aren’t. Are we or are we not an island of strangers?”“No, I think we’re a country where everybody, I think, wants to see a strong country where we train people in the UK, but also to see net migration comes down, I think that makes sense,” the home secretary replied.Cooper was also asked on BBC Radio 4′s Today programme what the prime minister meant by the phrase.She said that because the impact of migrants on services like the NHS is so important, it needs to be “properly managed” – and that integration is key.Presenter Nick Robinson said: “Did he [Starmer] know, did you know, this was an echo of Enoch Powell’s speech from 1968 that people would ‘find themselves made strangers in their own country’?”Cooper said it was “not right” to make such comparisons as Starmer also talked about the strength of the UK’s diversity.Asked if she was uncomfortable with the language, she said: “No, I think we do have to be able to have a serious conversation about policies.”Net migration to the UK has reached around 700,000 per year but Cooper refused to say exactly what number Labour would like to reduce it to.She said when the previous Tory government announced a target, it just “undermines the credibility of the whole system”.Related...Yvette Cooper Close Care Worker Visas In Migration Crackdown – But There's 1 ProblemStarmer Says Illegal Migration 'Unfair' On Working People And MigrantsIsraeli Officials’ Calls For ‘Voluntary’ Migration Of Palestinians Alarm Human Rights Experts

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