Deputy Leader Angela Rayner brought back a familiar Corbynite line at a Citizens UK event last night, accusing the Tories of “scapegoating” refugees. Speaking to the audience, she revived the soft-stance line:

“Refugees scapegoated, while those in power fail to take responsibility for our crumbling immigration system…It has to stop. It has to change.”

“Scapegoating refugees” had largely faded from Labour’s rhetoric since the Corbyn era. Meanwhile, critics on the left have accused Starmer of siding with the right on the issue, all as he gets embroiled in scandal over wanting to return people to Bangladesh. It’s worth recalling that Starmer pledged to scrap migrant detention centres during his leadership campaign, though now he claims to be tough on immigration. His foregone 2020 campaign promises are never more than a few clicks away:

“I challenge the government to give EU citizens the right to vote and be properly citizens of our country … We welcome migrants, we don’t scapegoat them.”

His Deputy Leader is reviving the old rhetoric. Does Labour ever really change?