They say a week is a long time in politics. A year… well.
Far from the buoyancy 12 months ago after Labour’s landslide election victory, the sense of fear and panic at this government’s party conference was undeniable.
Over the last three days, our government confirmed that the political agenda continues to be set by the far right. Last week, Reform announced they would scrap the indefinite leave to remain migration status – including retrospectively – revoking the right of settled non-EU migrants to live, work and study in the UK and forcing them to reapply. If their demonisation of people seeking asylum wasn’t abhorrent enough, this represents a significant escalation, confirming that belonging for people of colour in the UK remains conditional.
Keir Starmer has described the policy as “racist” and “immoral” – and it was good to see our government finally calling racism where it lies. But this is utterly disingenuous, given what followed.
Read more:
- Black History Month is even more important in frightening times of racist violence
- Inside the mission to make Cumbria the first anti-racist county in the UK
- We need to stop turning on migrants and understand where the real power and blame lies
Shabana Mahmood, in her first conference speech as our new home secretary, has doubled down on ‘hostile’ immigration policies, persisting in calls to “stop the boats” and policies that make the lives of people who have been here legally for years even more precarious.