PMQ Review: Immigration, immigration, immigration

Both parties try to own this important issue, but neither succeeds

Both leaders initially tried to mention international women’s day, it didn’t take long for the discussion to turn to immigration.

Sunak claimed that Labour’s plan is “open door immigration” and “unlimited asylum”, and accused Starmer of being on the side of the people smugglers. This is reminiscent of David Cameron’s famous statement about Ed Miliband.

Starmer’s voting record was used to paint him as the pro-immigration figure. But the Labour Leader certainly held his own this week, coming off as credible and serious. The Labour line is that “the Government plan won’t work” rings true, given the various failures of the Johnson, Truss and Sunak eras. It is also just very difficult for the Government to complain about the broken immigration system when they’ve been in power for 13 years.

The Rwanda deal has also failed to become a credible policy in the eyes of the public, given how it has failed to get off the ground.

Some have speculated that Braverman knows that the new law won’t work, and that once it doesn’t, she’ll resign and blame the Government for undermining her.

So where do Labour need to go from here?

1. Continue to use Starmer’s image to look tough on immigration

2. Place the blame for the broken system on the Conservative Government

3. Carefully push back against misinformation, e.g. refugees are not seeking asylum in countries other than the UK

Zoe Gardner @ZoeJardiniere

So, the next time someone thinks they're being smart by telling you they "should have stayed in France"... here's the @JCWI_UK 5-step guide to responding, which doesn't involve pointing out how deeply they are lacking in either humanity or imagination...

And one personal gripe, while Lindsay Hoyle does a good job keeping members in check, he seems to think that he is simultaneously doing stand up comedy.