Former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair on Sunday gave Keir Starmer “advice” after Labour’s landslide election victory, urging him to develop a “plan to control immigration”.
Blair warned new Prime Minister Starmer that the anti-immigration Reform Party also posed a challenge to Labour, not just the Conservatives.
The Reform Party, led by Nigel Farage, a figure associated with the far right and Brexit, has compounded the damage to the Conservatives in the election by splitting the right-wing vote.
He won five seats in parliament and 14% of the vote. Farage has warned that he will target Labour voters next time.
In an article titled “My Advice to Keir Starmer,” Blair wrote in The Sunday Times that “traditional political parties are in turmoil across the Western world.”
“Where the system allows new arrivals, they riot everywhere. Look at France or Italy,” he added. “We need a plan to control immigration. If we don’t have rules, we are subject to prejudice.”
Blair, the only Labour leader to lead the party to three consecutive election victories starting with its landslide victory in 1997, penned his “advice” in an article about harnessing the power of artificial intelligence.
He stressed that he believes that digital identity technology offers the best solution to controlling illegal immigration, a major issue during the election campaign.
“We have to move as the world moves towards digital identity,” Blair wrote. “If not, new border controls will have to be very effective.”
Blair’s other proposals included a “tough new approach to law and order” given the fact that “criminal elements are now evolving faster than law enforcement”.
For his part, the new Minister for Work, Jonathan Reynolds, responded to Blair, saying that he would not rule out the introduction of digital ID cards.
“The new home secretary will look at all sources of advice when it comes to this,” Reynolds told Sky News.
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