Keir Starmer’s divisive rhetoric on migrants this week comes as Parliament discusses and votes on the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill. Campaign group Refugee Acton describe the measure in its current form as “a joke.  Not only does it criminalise people seeking asylum who arrive by boat, ignoring the fact there are no safe routes for them, it also fails to include plans to life the ban on work.”

To challenge this  – and to explain why the issue of the right to work is such a critical one for people seeking asylum – Refugee Action are this week launching a new report Time to Lift the Ban.

The report demolishes the myth that Britain’s employment rights act as a ‘pull factor’ for people who seek safety in the UK. “In reality,” says the report, “all available evidence suggests that employment rights play little or no role in determining people’s choice of destination when they are seeking safety, and are largely unknown to people seeking asylum before they arrive here.”

Yet being able to work can still be hugely important to people seeking asylum after their arrival – for their mental health, self-esteem and independence, and for their socio-economic inclusion. Allowing asylum applicants to work is also good for economic growth and saves money.

The numbers of people waiting six months or more for an asylum decision has more than doubled in the last decade. Tens of thousands of people are banned from working while awaiting an asylum decision. They are forced to depend on inadequate state support in overpriced private accommodation.

Lifting the ban on work would bring the UK in line with other OECD states. It’s also supported by 81% of the voting public, with high levels of cross-party support.

The National Institute for Economic and Social Research found that lifting the ban would increase tax revenue by £1.3 billion, reduce government expenditure by £6.7 billion, and increase GDP by £1.6 billion. The All-Party Parliamentary Groups on Poverty and on Migration jointly found the ban on work to be a component of “destitution by design” and concluded that lifting the ban would give people seeking asylum “the chance to support themselves and escape poverty and destitution.”

The Scottish Government proposed a pilot scheme to lift the ban, and argued that current restrictions on the right to work form part of a system that “does not align with the values of dignity, fairness and respect.”  Focus on Labour Exploitation found that the work ban is putting people seeking asylum at “significant risk of exploitation” through informal employment.

In the wake of the UK’s racist riots in 2024, the Government committed to building “a culture of cohesion”. “Lifting the ban on work must be a priority in this context,” says the report. “Alongside the use of hotels and mass accommodation sites, the ban has contributed to conditions of de facto segregation in the UK asylum system, actively preventing people from settling in their local communities, ostracising them and making them vulnerable to additional racist ‘othering’ and ultimately to violence of the kind we saw last summer.”

Dismay at Starmer

Sadly, Keir Starmer’s speech bemoaning how high net migration figures have done “incalculable damage” to British society looks set to continue this othering. The remarks caused widespread dismay – not least from within the Labour Party. “The Prime Minister knew what message he was sending — and who he was sending it to. Disgraceful,” said Zarah Sultana MP.

Nadia Whittome MP agreed, saying: “Anti-immigration policies stoke division and harm people, our public services and economy, while doing nothing to address the real problems caused by austerity. Let’s offer solutions not scapegoating.” Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP and Kim Johnson MP also added their voices.

“We must end, not embolden, the hostile environment,” said Apsana Begum MP, adding that she would vote against the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill this week.

Former Shadow Hone Secretary Diane Abbott MP described the PM’s comments as “Starmer mimicking Nigel Farage,” calling it “a shameful strategy which will not work.”

Writing in the Guardian after the recent local election results, John McDonnell drew similar conclusions: “If Labour seeks to ape Reform, then voters will largely opt for the real deal and vote Reform, while at the same time Labour will alienate supporters who are aghast at the party adopting Reform-like positioning on immigration.”

This is true. Three-quarters of Reform’s support comes from voters who haven’t backed Labour in a general election in 20 years. And for Labour voters in 2024 who switched to another party in 2025’s local elections, migration did not even feature in their top five reasons for doing so. What did? The removal of the Winter Fuel Allowance, the failure to reduce the cost of living or improve public services, broken promises and a failure to stand up to the rich and powerful were the key factors determining their alienation from Labour.

Starmer’s remarks about Britain becoming an “island of strangers” were briefed out as something that Labour campaigners frequently heard on the doorstep. Many MPs felt the comments echoed Enoch Powell’s infamous 1968 speech.

Former Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle responded: “We ARE becoming strangers — not because of migrants, but because of insecure work, (anti-)social media, lack of shared spaces and low wages preventing socialising. Bring back youth clubs, fix community centres, support workers. Invest in our country — don’t scapegoat migrants.”

Support the campaign to #LiftTheBan by signing Refugee Acton’s open letter here.

Image: Migrants in the English Channel. Creator: Sandor Csudai. Copyright: Sandor Csudai. Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)