Eluned Morgan seeks to distance herself from Keir Starmer

Martin Shipton

Eluned Morgan has criticised Sir Keir Starmer’s plans to crack down on immigration, saying pressing ahead with them will damage the country.

In a podcast with BBC journalist Nick Robinson, the First Minister has also gone further than she did in an earlier interview to distance herself from the language used by the Prime Minister.

Some have compared Starmer’s reference to an “island of strangers” with racist rhetoric used by the Conservative politician Enoch Powell in an infamous 1968 speech.Starmer had said without tighter immigration rules, Britain would become an island of strangers.

On the podcast, Baroness Morgan said she was concerned about both Starmer’s policy and the language he used to announce it.

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'List'

She said she had a "list" of issues with the UK Government. Including her disagreement with the earlier decision to scrap the Winter Fuel Allowance for most pensioners. It should be kept for all but the richest of pensioners, she argued, also asserting that she would stick to the left of UK Labour as the party fights to stay in power in Wales.

Recent polls in Wales have shown Labour, Plaid Cymru and Reform UK with similar levels of support, and the Conservatives some points behind in fourth place, The introduction of a new voting system that is wholly proportional will make it harder for Labour to attain the lead over other parties it has been used to in devolved elections, with further pressure caused by the unpopularity of the Labour UK Government.

Baroness Morgan recently coined the term “Red Welsh Way” to distinguish her Welsh Labour administration with that of Starmer at Westminster. It has been seen by some as an echo of Rhodri Morgan’s “clear red water” which distinguished his government from that of Tony Blair.

Starmer plans to ban recruitment of care workers from overseas and tighten access to skilled worker visas.

Morgan has previously said proposals from Sir Keir could pose "challenges" for social care services if they could no longer recruit overseas workers.

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'Comfortable'

Asked if she was worried about Starmer’s language and whether his policy would "damage Wales", Morgan told the podcast: "I think both, actually. I don't think I'd use that language.

"I'm very keen on making sure that people feel comfortable in a cohesive community and that they feel welcome."

Downing Street says that Starmer stands by his words and "the argument he was making was that migrants make a massive contribution to our country, but migration needs to be controlled".

Morgan said in the podcast: "I think it probably is worth emphasising that in Wales about 7% of the population are immigrants, which is much, much smaller than other parts of the country."

But she said "more or less" 50% of doctors and dentists in west Wales "are people who've been trained abroad".

She said: "The care services are something I'm particularly concerned about.

"Even things like getting people to work in pubs and things in the summer in our tourism sector, it's a challenge."

Asked if it was something she would raise with Sir Keir, she added: "I've got a list. He knows my list, OK?"

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'Uplift'

Morgan nevertheless insisted, as she has before, that her administration had "massively gained as a result of the UK Labour government - we have had the biggest uplift in our budget since the Senedd was established".

But she said she was putting Wales first: "I'm doing what it says on my Labour membership card. It says: 'country first'. My country is not quite the same country that Keir perhaps had in mind when he was writing that membership card."

She said Reform was a "challenge" for Labour "but we've also got a threat from Plaid Cymru, and I think we've got to take that seriously".

It could not be taken for granted "that Labour will always be in power in Wales".

"I'm going to be true to my values. My values are not that I am going to tack to the right to take on Reform.

"I'm going to stick to the red Welsh way, which is more to the left than perhaps the centre of gravity in UK Labour at the moment."

She said: "I'm not sure if millionaires should be getting a winter fuel allowance. So let's just make sure that they don't get it." But she wanted "the majority of pensioners" to get the benefit.

The First Minister also said she would be relaxed if richer people in London were taxed more and people in Wales could get more from the government.

'Unimpressed'

Darren Millar, leader of the Welsh Conservative Senedd group, said: “People across Wales are rightly concerned about immigration so they will be unimpressed by the First Minister's comments.

“Instead of trying to distance herself from Keir Starmer by telling him his immigration plans are damaging to Wales, she should be standing up for people here in Wales by telling the Prime Minister to take tougher action to get immigration down by introducing a cap on numbers, and deporting all foreign criminals, including those who arrive here illegally.

A Plaid Cymru spokesperson said: “Fabricating rows between Labour in Wales and Labour in Westminster due to recent polls isn't fooling anyone.”

A Plaid Cymru spokesperson said: "The people of Wales will not be fooled. This is nothing more than a phoney air war and a cynical attempt to conceal the fact that Labour's First Minister and Prime Minister are joined at the hip."