Ben Chapman
Guest Reporter
Former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie has cast doubt on Sir Keir Starmer's ability to tackle Britain's migration crisis, despite agreeing with some of the Prime Minister's analysis.
Speaking on GB News, MacKenzie called the current situation "a shocking legacy of the Conservative Government and the multiple prime ministers they have had."
However, he expressed deep skepticism about Starmer's promises to address the issue.
"I admire his ambition but when I look at what he has done over the last five months, I can say nothing will be achieved and actually, all we will get is another huge tax rise," MacKenzie said.
The comments follow Prime Minister Starmer's accusation today that the Conservative Party ran an "open borders experiment" which led to record migration levels.
New figures revealed net migration hit 906,000 in the year to June 2023, nearly four times higher than 2019 levels.
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Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, Starmer said the unprecedented increase "happened by design, not accident" as "policies were reformed deliberately to liberalise immigration."
The Prime Minister claimed the Tories had used Brexit "to turn Britain into a one nation experiment in open borders" under the banner of "Global Britain."
In a notable point of agreement, MacKenzie backed Starmer's assessment of Brexit's role in the migration crisis.
"I actually agree with Keir Starmer over the way he positioned Brexit as being a responsible area for this," MacKenzie said on GB News.
He specifically highlighted the challenges with Channel crossings, explaining: "The reason those boats are coming is because they can and we can't send them back. If we remained, we could have done."
"One of the ways they are consistently coming in is across the Channel, and we can't send them back," he added.
However, MacKenzie expressed fundamental doubts about Starmer's commitment to his promises on immigration.
"There are a number of things he said I agree with, the one thing I disagree with the idea he is going to solve any of this," he told GB News.
MacKenzie criticised what he saw as inconsistency in Starmer's approach.
"He changes his tune every two minutes. One minute he says, 'we're going to need lots of help to turn this around', then he says 'yes, we will do this'," he said.
The former Sun editor concluded by predicting that Starmer's leadership would result in "another huge tax rise."
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Speaking on GB News, MacKenzie called the current situation "a shocking legacy of the Conservative Government and the multiple prime ministers they have had."
However, he expressed deep skepticism about Starmer's promises to address the issue.
"I admire his ambition but when I look at what he has done over the last five months, I can say nothing will be achieved and actually, all we will get is another huge tax rise," MacKenzie said.
The comments follow Prime Minister Starmer's accusation today that the Conservative Party ran an "open borders experiment" which led to record migration levels.
New figures revealed net migration hit 906,000 in the year to June 2023, nearly four times higher than 2019 levels.
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Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, Starmer said the unprecedented increase "happened by design, not accident" as "policies were reformed deliberately to liberalise immigration."
The Prime Minister claimed the Tories had used Brexit "to turn Britain into a one nation experiment in open borders" under the banner of "Global Britain."
In a notable point of agreement, MacKenzie backed Starmer's assessment of Brexit's role in the migration crisis.
"I actually agree with Keir Starmer over the way he positioned Brexit as being a responsible area for this," MacKenzie said on GB News.
He specifically highlighted the challenges with Channel crossings, explaining: "The reason those boats are coming is because they can and we can't send them back. If we remained, we could have done."
"One of the ways they are consistently coming in is across the Channel, and we can't send them back," he added.
However, MacKenzie expressed fundamental doubts about Starmer's commitment to his promises on immigration.
"There are a number of things he said I agree with, the one thing I disagree with the idea he is going to solve any of this," he told GB News.
MacKenzie criticised what he saw as inconsistency in Starmer's approach.
"He changes his tune every two minutes. One minute he says, 'we're going to need lots of help to turn this around', then he says 'yes, we will do this'," he said.
The former Sun editor concluded by predicting that Starmer's leadership would result in "another huge tax rise."
Find Out More...