Politics Home Article | Red Wall Labour MPs Urge Government To Stick With Immigration Reforms

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The chair of the party’s Red Wall Caucus has told PoliticsHome that Labour will “never rebuild trust” in constituencies in her part of the country until it is seen as having tackled the issue.

On Tuesday night, Rayner, who is seen as a frontrunner to succeed the Prime Minister, criticised the direction of the government in her most significant intervention since resigning from cabinet in September.

Speaking to a reception hosted by the soft left Labour group Mainstream in a Westminster pub, she said the “very survival” of Labour is at stake as the party faces the electoral threat of both Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and Zack Polanski’s Greens.

“There is no safe ground for us, and we’re running out of time. The change that people so desperately wanted to see needs to be seen. It needs to be felt,” Rayner said.

The influential backbench MP also specifically criticised new restrictions on settlement policy being brought forward by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.

Under the changes, set to come into force on Wednesday, migrants will need to wait longer to qualify for permanent settlement in the UK. 

Rayner said the plan to extend the automatic qualifying period for awarding Indefinite Leave to Remain from five to 10 years would “pull the rug” from migrants who have already arrived in the UK, and represent “not just bad policy but a breach of trust”.

Over 100 Labour MPs recently signed a letter organised by backbencher Tony Vaughan urging the Starmer government to rethink the tightening of immigration rules.

The PM has been urged by the left of Labour to pursue a more progressive agenda after the party suffered a seismic defeat to the Greens at last month’s Gorton and Denton by-election.

However, Mahmood has today been backed by Labour MPs who say the reforms are key to defeating Reform in their areas.

Jo White, Labour MP for Bassetlaw and chair of the Labour Red Wall Caucus, told PoliticsHome: “My constituents tell me this is the most important issue that this government has to sort out. We can only move on when they have confidence that the government has done what’s needed, whether it’s the small boats or dealing with the high numbers who have come here in recent years.

“My constituents are calling for fairness, and diverting from this means we will never rebuild trust in constituencies like mine.”

She added: “Recent history has already shown that Labour cannot win a general election without the Red Wall MPs, and seats on the opposition benches will mean that we will never deliver on the economic and social change that we all believe in and desire.”

The ‘Red Wall’ is a phrase commonly used in Westminster to describe post-industrial seats in northern England and the Midlands that have been seen as key to recent election results.

Luke Akehurst, MP for North Durham on the right of Labour, said he was “extremely disappointed” by Rayner’s public intervention on Tuesday night.

“All the polling shows these policies are popular across the electorate,” he told PoliticsHome.

“They aren’t the cause of Labour’s poll malaise, which is driven by the cost of living. Being credible on controlling immigration is critical to Labour’s ability to hold marginal red wall seats at the next elections.”

Henry Tufnell, Labour MP for Mid and South Pembrokeshire, said his colleague must “back Shabana” and her reforms, saying “the country wants it, and we need to deliver, otherwise Reform will do something much more extreme.”

Mahmood herself doubled down on the asylum reforms in a speech last week, warning concerned Labour MPs that the current system is  “eroding trust” with the public.

“Hard-working people across this country engage in the daily struggle to make ends meet.

“They see a state that they pay taxes towards, yet it is unable to stop the flow of dinghies across the channel. They see a state that is paying billions towards hotels. It doesn’t look fair because it’s not fair, and it erodes their trust in government,” the Home Secretary said.

Speaking to PoliticsHome this afternoon, an unnamed Labour MP in the Red Wall group said Mahmood’s reforms are “not just about me keeping my seat at the next election, it’s what’s morally right”.

Another Labour MP added: “If we can’t deliver the changes that the public supports, then we can’t govern. The government’s immigration policy can’t be changed by Angela Rayner in the basement of some dingy pub.”

An MP in the party’s Blue Labour group, which advocates more socially conservative positions, told PoliticsHome: “We can’t – must not – retreat into our comfort zone as a party. The country wants these reforms.”

There were suggestions this afternoon that Downing Street could dilute the reforms after Rayner’s intervention, with a spokesperson telling journalists that it was “considering responses” to a Home Office consultation, and would “respond in line with our principles and values”.

However, a government spokesperson later stressed that its position “has not changed”.

“We will always welcome those that come to this country and contribute to our national life. But the privilege of living here forever should be earned, not automatic.

“But between 2021 and 2024, this country experienced levels of migration it had historically seen over four decades. We must be honest about the scale and impact of hundreds of thousands of low-skilled migrants getting settlement,” they said.

The government has sought to clarify that the consultation relates to whether transitional arrangements should be used for migrants who are already in the UK but have not yet received settled status.