Labour can't out-Reform Reform – it needs to change tact

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 pol