Diane Abbott has declared that Keir Starmer’s “island of strangers” immigration speech was “fundamentally racist” and copying Reform UK’s rhetoric.

The prime minister sparked comparisons right-wing former Tory minister Enoch Powell after he announced Labour’s plans to slash the number of migrants coming to the UK last month.

At the time, he said: “In a diverse nation like ours, and I celebrate that, these rules become even more important.

“Without them, we risk becoming an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together.”

Speaking at anti-austerity rally on Saturday, Abbott, a respected Labour backbencher, joined the chorus of critics who have called out the speech.

The left-wing MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington particularly tore into Starmer’s warning a

See Full Page