PM rejects claims he echoed Powell's speech on migrants

SIR Keir Starmer “completely rejects” suggestions he echoed Enoch Powell in a major speech on immigration, and stands by his words, Downing Street has said.

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The Prime Minister has faced backlash for the language he used in the speech setting out plans to crack down on legal migration into the UK on Monday.

Sir Keir warned the UK risked becoming an “island of strangers” if migration controls were not tightened.

Critics, including backbench Labour MPs, have raised concerns about the language, with some comparing it to a similar passage from Mr Powell’s infamous 1968 “rivers of blood” speech.

Sir Keir’s official spokesman robustly defended the Prime Minister's words and brushed aside the similarity.

“We completely reject that comparison,” he told reporters.