Starmer says he didn't mean to cause 'concern or offence' with Bangladesh comments

Many have pointed out there are other countries where more illegal immigrants come to the UK from, with Bangladesh ranking seventh.

By ITV News Correspondent Shehab Khan and Westminster Producer Maya Bowles

Sir Keir Starmer has told ITV News he "wasn't intending to cause any concern or offence" with comments he made about Bangladeshi asylum seekers.

The Labour leader is facing a backlash from his own party after he singled out Bangladesh as a country where illegal migrants are not being deported to quickly enough.

Starmer insisted he "values the incredible contribution" of British Bangladeshis, and wants to "build that relationship if we come into government, and make it even stronger in the future than it is now."

Speaking specifically about people who come to the UK illegally earlier this week, the Labour leader told The Sun newspaper: “I’ll make sure we got planes going off…back to the countries where people came from."

He then highlighted Bangladesh as an example, saying “at the moment people coming from countries like Bangladesh are not being removed.”

But many have pointed out there are other countries where more illegal immigrants come to the UK from, with Bangladesh ranking seventh.

Starmer has faced huge criticism from members of the Bangladeshi community, as well as Labour Party members, including Stepney Green Councillor Sabina Akhtar who has resigned over the issue.

Starmer told ITV News: "All I was saying is that as far as asylum returns are concerned, Bangladesh is a safe country."

Home Office statistics show that the top countries of origin of people seeking asylum in the UK are Afghanistan, Iran and India.

In the year ending December 2023, there were 7,500 asylum seekers who arrived from Afghanistan, compared to around 3,500 from Bangladesh.

Labour candidate and former MP Apsana Begum posted a video on X saying: "It's totally unacceptable for any party to use dog whistle racism against Bangladeshis."

Begum, who is British Bangladeshi, appeared to attack Starmer in her video in which she insisted: "I will never stand by and let migrant communities be scapegoated."

Despite being around 20 points ahead in the polls, the Labour Party is battling to win back support of British Muslims, many of whom feel unheard by the party over their stance on Gaza.

Data analysis for ITV News after the local elections in May revealed Labour lost 33 percentage points of vote share in areas that are majority Muslim.

Mish Rahman, a member of Labour's National Executive Committee told ITV News that Starmer's comments were "vicious".

"Our communities will not tolerate this attitude that the potential new prime minister has shown that when it comes to dealing with ethnic minority communities.

"Many in these communities are as a result being pushed towards Independents and Greens", Rahman said.

He also told ITV News: "What makes this worse is that this is happening at a time when the far right are gaining prominence throughout Europe and the US following the scapegoating of migrants, and Starmer has joined in with that scapegoating."

The government signed a deal with Bangladesh in May this year to tackle illegal migration and speed up the removal of migrants from the country - Starmer welcomes this as a "good thing."

Britain's first Bangladeshi MP, Rushanara Ali, said: "There has been considerable concern and upset following the release of a clip of the Labour Party Leader.

"I have been in close contact with his tea, to relay the concerns in our community."

A prominent British Bangladeshi community leader said people are "seething with anger", accusing the party of a "a far right rhetoric."

"Keir Starmer should be ashamed of himself and take a long, hard look in the mirror.

"A prime minister in waiting should never attack minority communities whose support he relies on", the anonymous community leader told ITV News' Shehab Khan.

A Tower Hamlets Labour Councillor told ITV News Starmer's comments has resulted in major backlash from the community.

They said: "Is one of our wonderful British Bangladeshi MP candidates going to put the record straight? This is all gearing towards kill off Labour in 2026."

Labour Candidate for Liverpool Wavertree Paula Barker tweeted in support of the Bangladeshi community in her area

A Labour Party spokesperson said: "Keir has proudly supported the Bangladeshi community across the UK, who make an enormous contribution to our country."

Highlighting a specific video of the interview circulating online which has been edited, the spokesperson said: “This clip has been edited to make it look as though Keir is suggesting repatriation of British Bangladeshis. It is misinformation.

"In fact, Keir is referring to Labour's long established policy of returning those who don’t have the legal right to be in the UK to safe countries. Bangladesh was only used as an example, as there is already a bilateral agreement between the two countries."

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The current government says their plan to deport failed asylum seekers to Rwanda to have their claims processed will solve the small boats crisis, but Labour say we need to return more people to their country of origin.

Starmer says "on the first few days in government... I'll put the staff back in the returns unit, I'll make sure we've got planes going off."

Labour also say they will set up a Border Security Command to tackle the small boats smuggling gangs using specialist investigators and counter-terror powers.

All enforced returns to Afghanistan were suspended after the Taliban took control of the country in 2021, and political instability in Iran makes it an unsafe place to return people to.

Home Office data revealed on Tuesday that more than 50,000 people have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel since Rishi Sunak became prime minister, including over 13,000 so far this year.

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