Cooper defends Starmer’s ‘island of strangers’ line but says she does not know if he was aware of Enoch Powell echo – UK politics live

Home secretary says PM’s words on immigration were ‘completely different’ when asked about comparisons with notorious Rivers of Blood speechIn an interview on Newsnight last night Arlene Foster, the former DUP leader, said she thought that someone in Downing Street would have known that “island of strangers” was a clear echo of what Enoch Powell said in his Rivers of Blood speech. Asked if Keir Starmer would have been aware of the similarities in the language, she replied:Somebody did Downing Street, I’m convinced of it,“Island of strangers” is a very particular form of words, it’s almost a term of art. So where did it come from? And who was the person that said this should go into the speech?Keir Starmer’s ‘island of strangers’ comment is part of a pattern.. his willingness to read out whatever is written for him by clunky advisers ..in this case trying too hard to make him sound like Farage..As a result inauthenticity is a wider problem for him. There are many arguments to be made for border security. He made some of them well…All lost by a single stupid phrase that some right wing populists would think twice before using…and anyway predictably leads to the Mail and co running their usual hostile front pages. Continue reading...

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