Scotland's former first minister Humza Yousaf hits out at Starmer's 'dog whistle' stance on immigration
penned by Mr Yousaf for LBC, the former leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) repeated claims the prime minister's recent remarks on immigration were a "modern echo" of Enoch Powell's infamous 1968 Rivers Of Blood speech.
The prime minister stirred controversy earlier this week when he argued Britain "risked becoming an island of strangers" if immigration levels were not cut.
After , Sir Keir , with his official spokesperson saying migrants have made a "massive contribution" to society but his point was that the Tories "lost control of the system".
In the LBC piece published on Saturday, Mr Yousaf said: "Powell's 1968 speech warned of immigration as an existential threat to 'our blood and our culture', stoking racial panic that led directly to decades of hostile migration policies.
"Starmer's invocation of 'strangers' is a modern echo - a dog-whistle to voters who blame migrants for every social ill, from stretched public services to the cost-of-living crisis.
"It betrays a failure to understand, or deliberately mask the fact that Britain's prosperity depends on migration, on openness not building walls."
Read more:Farage on how Reform UK would deal with migration
Sir Keir made the comments at a news conference in which , including banning care homes from recruiting overseas, new English language requirements for visa holders and stricter rules on gaining British citizenship.
The package is aimed at reducing the number of people coming to the UK by up to 100,000 per year, though the government has not officially set a target.
The government is under pressure to tackle legal migration, as well as illegal immigration, amid .
Mr Yousaf concluded his article saying the UK was "on the brink of possibly handing the keys of No 10 to Nigel Farage".
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