By Callum Robinson
The British Labour government made history this week, having enacted the most far-right migration policy of any British government in living memory. Under Keir Starmer, what was once a soft left party, has now become the party of performative cruelty; of oppressing the vulnerable; and of deepened austerity: all under the guise of so-called ‘sensible’ politics.
Shabana Mahmood has released details of her plans to further incite division, hatred and violence against refugees and asylum seekers. Those people, having fled war will now be robbed of any valuables deemed not ‘sentimental’ enough, be transferred into military barracks, and regardless of how long they remain, will be deported immediately to the country they fled if the British government decides it is safe.
This Labour government is not concerned about the safety; of working-class people, and even less so the safety of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees. Mahmood’s decision to impose these cruel sanctions now comes in the context of rampant illegal violence against immigrants and anybody suspected of being one.
While arson and assault skyrocket against migrant communities, the Labour Home Secretary believes now is the time to reward racism and xenophobia. For this, Mahmood has earned the praise of figures such as Nigel Farage and Tommy Robinson – figures who Labour claims such policies are designed to undercut.
Labour is not undercutting Reform, or any other far-right party: their polls plummet more with each polling, with further right policies passed providing no boost in support. Instead, Labour is selling out those who voted them in, as a left alternative to the Conservatives who came before. Now Mahmood drafts policies that Priti Patel only dreamed of.
Labour is doing the groundwork for Reform now, and in doing so enables Reform to accelerate its politics faster than otherwise possible. The extreme right is evolving rapidly, and the centre of ‘sensible’ politics is evidently far-right too; an anti racist movement of the working class and oppressed must adapt to grow more aggressively too.
We urgently need to build a movement which can stand to oppose the forces of right-wing reactionary politics. This movement has never been more necessary, but it has, too, never been more possible. Today, millions are beginning to see the capitalist political system for what it is, and they see the vast riches hoarded by the capitalist class, and protected by their briefcase-toting representatives in Downing Street and Westminster.
There is enough for us all. It is a matter of distribution. The solution is not to rob what little the poor have, but to take what we have made and use it for the fulfilment of the needs of all.
