Starmer says he regrets using ‘island of strangers’ phrase

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said he regrets saying the UK risked becoming “an island of strangers” in a speech about immigration.

The prime minister was accused by some critics of using divisive language when he made a speech to announce plans to cut immigration in May.

Some MPs compared Sir Keir’s remarks to those made by former MP Enoch Powell in a well-known speech about immigration in 1968.

At the time, Downing Street rejected the comparison and said the PM stood by his words and his view that “migration needs to be controlled”.

But in an interview with his biographer, Tom Baldwin, Sir Keir said: “I wouldn’t have used those words if I had known they were, or even would be interpreted as an echo of Powell.

“I had no idea – and my speechwriters…