Keir Starmer says Reform’s plan to deport migrants legally in UK is ‘racist’

"It will rip this country apart."

On Monday, Nigel Farage announced that his party would plan to change the current system so migrants who were legally settled in the UK would have to apply for a five-year temporary visa.

Currently, migrants can have indefinite leave to remain if they have lived and worked in the UK for several years.

Reform say that their policy would be applied retroactively, meaning those who have been here for years could be deported if they cannot get citizenship or a visa.

Speaking to Laura Kuennsberg on the BBC this morning, Starmer attacked the plans, calling it a 'racist policy'.

"It is one thing to say we’re going to remove illegal migrant, people who have no right to be here – I’m up for that," he said.

"It is a completely different thing to say we are going to reach in to people who are lawfully here and start removing them.

"They are our neighbours, they’re people who work in our economy. They are part of who we are. It will rip this country apart."

The prime minister said he understood that people are 'frustrated', and said that he did not think the policy was being announced in order to appeal to racists.

Reform's head of policy, Zia Yusuf, responded to Starmer's comments, telling the BBC: “Labour’s message to the country is clear: pay hundreds of billions for foreign nationals to live off the state forever, or Labour will call you racist.

“Reform’s plan will ensure only British people can access welfare and that migrants contribute to society.”