Labour branded ‘out of touch’ after admitting it has no Shadow Minister for Immigration
LABOUR was last night branded “completely out of touch” with working class Brits after admitting it doesn’t have a Shadow Minister for Immigration.
The party said that despite having a frontbencher responsible for Voter Engagement it hadn’t bothered to fill the post.
Labour MP Kier Starmer resigned the role at the end of June at the start of the leadership battle won by Jeremy Corbyn earlier this summer.
A Labour source yesterday said: “There’s no separate Shadow Immigration Minister at this stage."
The extraordinary confession came as Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell failed to mention immigration once in a 5,000 word speech yesterday about ‘Brexit’ and the economy.
Just hours earlier Clive Lewis, Shadow Business Minister, broke ranks with the party’s high command and demanded Labour “show leadership” over the issue – adding that free movement of people across the EU “hasn’t worked” for millions of Brits.
Tory backbencher Dominic Raab told the Sun: “It’s clearer than ever that Labour are completely out of touch with the concerns of ordinary working people.
“Jeremy Corbyn wants to open the doors to unlimited immigration and can’t even be bothered to appoint a Shadow Immigration Minister.”
He added: “Labour are too divided and incompetent to build a country that works for everyone – and families across the country would pay for their failure.”
Jeremy Corbyn shook up his Shadow Cabinet after seeing off a leadership challenge from Owen Smith in September.
At the time he talked about appointing a Shadow Minister for Disarmament and a Shadow Minister for Peace.
A spokeswoman said immigration currently fell under the responsibilities of Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott – who has passionately defended EU free movement rules.
She said: “Immigration is part of Diane Abbott’s brief as Shadow Home Secretary.”
Robert Goodwill is the Government’s Immigration Minster as part of the Home Office team.