PM accused of echoing Enoch Powell's rivers of blood speech

SENIOR LABOUR FIGURES DISTANCE THEMSELVES FROM STARMER'S LANGUAGE

- By Michael Knowles Home Affairs Editor

SIR Keir Starmer faced a backlash from senior Labour figures yesterday as Downing Street defended his immigration crackdown.

The Prime Minister had warned that the UK could become an "island of strangers" because integration had failed due to mass migration.

Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan led a Left-wing Labour resistance yesterday, refusing to support Sir Keir's language as others accused him of echoing Enoch Powell's "rivers of blood" speech, including suspended Labour MP Zarah Sultana.

Sir Sadiq said: "The sort of language that I use is different to the sort of language used by others. That's not the sort of words that I would use. We have gone from a situation where lawful migration was 100,000, 200,000 to where it's 900,000, 700,000, more than 600,000, and I think we should have control over our borders. But you can be consistent in saying that and also recognising the massive contribution made by successive generations of migrants."