Chuka Umunna today hit out at the “Trumpification” of Britain by politicians blaming problems on immigrants.
The Labour MP singled out Ukip leader Nigel Farage and warned of a “slippery slope” that could see a Donald Trump figure win power in the UK. “Some say it wouldn’t fly in modern Britain, that people here could never stomach a Prime Minister in the mould of Donald Trump,” he said.
“But we are already on that slippery slope. Last year’s General Election should have been a wake-up call to the growing and pernicious divides in our national politics.”
Former shadow business secretary Mr Umunna, launching a new cross-party group on social integration, gave a speech warning that Britain was failing to live up to the unifying spirit of the 2012 London Olympics.
He unveiled research showing most poorer Londoners feel like “outsiders” in the capital, while the majority of richer Londoners have a sense of belonging. London’s wealthy were also more likely to feel safe in the city and to take part in community activities.
The new group, with Kingston & Surbiton MP James Berry as vice-chairman, will explore new ways to integrate communities.
Mr Umunna claimed there was “a real risk” that Britons could respond to problems by asking “who can we blame?” He recalled that four million people voted for Mr Farage last year after the Ukip leader “blamed the traffic on immigrants” and proposed banning migrants with Aids.
“If we continue down this path, we could face nothing less than the Trumpification of British democracy,” he added.
Mr Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for president, has proposed banning Muslims from the US and building an anti-migrant wall on the border between America and Mexico.
Mr Umunna, who admitted Labour had in the past been deaf to public concerns about the social pressures caused by immigration, said if the UK wanted to live up to the Olympic ideal it needed “big, compassionate, joined-up politics.” @JoeMurphyLondon
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