Jeremy Corbyn in the Commons this week

ISLINGTON North MP Jeremy Corbyn warned this week that the government’s attempts to get tough on immigration failed to consider the desperation that anybody trying to cross the Channel in a small boat must be feeling.

After scrapping the Conservatives’ plan to deport people to Rwanda, prime minister Sir Keir Starmer was yesterday (Thursday) working on a deal to set up centres in the Balkans.

It followed announcements earlier in the week that his government would demand people learned English, speed up deportations, curb the hiring of foreign carers and tighten citizenship eligibility.

Mr Starmer was accused of echoing Enoch Powell’s infamous “Rivers of Blood” speech when he said the UK must not become an “island of strangers”, in a week in which he insisted “I get it” to people who have made the number of people coming into the UK their top concern.

Labour – and the Tories – lost ground to Reform at local elections elsewhere in the country.

Mr Corbyn – Mr Starmer’s predecessor as leader of the Labour Party who is now an independent MP – said: “The problems in our society are not caused by migrants or refugees.

They are caused by an economic system rigged in favour of corporations and billionaires.”

He added: “If the government wanted to improve people’s lives, it would tax the rich and build an economy that works for us all.”

Earlier in the week, he asked MPs in the House to accept that “people who make an incredibly dangerous journey and are exploited in doing so are often totally desperate, are victims of human rights abuse and war, and have been through horrendous journeys to get there”.

He added: “One day, they will find somewhere where they will be able to live their lives and make a contribution to our society.”

Mr Corbyn said that this week’s introduction to the government’s white paper had not recognised how much migrants had contributed including their work in the NHS and in education.

His comments led to former Labour and Conservative MP Lee Anderson – now with Reform – to say Mr Corbyn should himself be deported.

Labour’s top brass have said Mr Starmer had no deliberate mind to sound like Powell’s speech.