UK election 2024: Starmer's attack on Bangladeshis could cost him, say constituents
Bangladeshi residents in Keir Starmer’s constituency of Holborn and St Pancras report “absolute outrage” within the community following the Labour leader’s comments about Bangladeshi migrants.
Those whom Middle East Eye spoke to warned that many in the community, which has traditionally backed Labour, are less likely to vote for the party.
Starmer made the comments during an event with the right-leaning Sun newspaper. "I'll make sure we’ve got planes going off - not to Rwanda because that's an expensive gimmick. They will go back to the countries where people come from. That’s what used to happen," the Labour leader said.
"At the moment, people coming from countries like Bangladesh are not being removed," he added.
Starmer's comments were echoed by shadow cabinet minister Jon Ashworth, who said that “people coming here from the Indian subcontinent do not get returned”.
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Camden resident and The Muslim Vote representative Muhammad Chowdhury told MEE that Starmer's comments had shocked British-Bangladeshis and may result in a drop in support for Labour within the community.
“Historically, people have supported Labour, as have most ethnic minorities ... But I think this is just so illogical, so distasteful to single out the community,” he said. “There has been absolute outrage… I think it could cost him quite clearly, judging by all the outrage I'm seeing on social media.”
“People were incensed,” local resident, Shahanaz told MEE. “And even within my own family, I think there was a lot of shock … Why of all communities would you single out the Bangladeshi community?”
“And for someone who represents a constituency where [a significant percentage] of the population is Bangladeshi, it seems very pointed. I think people sort of recognise that,” she said.
A Labour stronghold
In the borough of Camden, part of which is inside Starmer's Holborn and St Pancras constituency, Bangladeshis constitute the largest single ethnic minority group, accounting for over five percent of the population.
“In the primary school I went, around 90-95 percent of the pupils were Bangladeshi,” Shahanaz told MEE.
“[The community] is not necessarily visible. You don't have the Bangladeshi community in one pocket, but spread out around the borough,” she said.
Holborn and St Pancras has been under Labour control since 1983. In 2017, the party won a landslide majority of 51.7 percent, resulting in the seat’s ranking as the 77th safest of the party's 232 seats.
“We grew up in a Labour household,” Shahanaz said. “My dad always had a good relationship with Labour councillors.”
According to Shahanaz, who grew up in the constituency, Starmer’s predecessor Frank Dobson was deeply embedded in and trusted by the community.
“He was always out and about, people knew him, and that, I think, also helped secure [their] loyalty,” she said.
“Dobson was always someone you just bumped into in the streets, and would always shake your hand and give you a smile. Keir Starmer is definitely not someone you bump into in the street,” she added.
“I don't know if I’ve met anyone who's seen Keir Starmer anywhere in the constituency in the last year or two,” Chowdhury said.
A new version of Labour
According to Chowdhury, loyalty to the Labour party runs deep in sections of Camden’s Bangladeshi community, with many still likely to back the party.
“There are people who are perhaps loyal to Labour quite blindly,” he told MEE.
But he said that Bangladeshi community members, who were active in canvassing for Labour in previous elections, are largely absent from the streets.
“We haven’t seen them anywhere,” he said.
“A lot of the Labour activists are having a hard time holding a straight face and asking anybody to vote for [the party].”
Starmer is being challenged by independent pro-Palestine candidate Andrew Feinstein, a former anti-apartheid campaigner and adviser to Nelson Mandela.
In February, Feinstein told MEE he had delayed his decision to stand until after he had won the support of every section of the constituency’s community.
According to Chowdhury and Shahanaz, Feinstein's campaign is prominent on the streets of Camden through volunteer-driven canvassing and leafleting, while Starmer has failed to attend multiple local hustings.
“If you walk down any place where people congregate, whether it's outside a train station or in the market… support for Andrew Feinstein is very visible ... everywhere I go, I have people giving me flyers to vote for Andrew,” Chowdhury said.
In June, Feinstein’s campaign confirmed that they had garnered more than 740 volunteers, dwarfing the numbers on a local Labour Party’s WhatsApp canvassing group, according to Skwakbox.
While recent polling suggests that Labour is on course for a landslide victory in the general election, betting companies have slashed the odds for Feinstein replacing Starmer, from 50/1 to as low as 9/1.
“I think people are starting to feel marginalised by this new version of Labour,” Shahanaz said.
“Much more so than I ever felt under Tony Blair. There was never that sense [that] this is a party that might not really care about us.”
Responding to the backlash last week, Starmer said he did not want to cause offence and that he “values the incredible contribution" Bangladeshis in Britain have made.
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