Starmer must drain the poison from the immigration debate – it’s what the public wants | Rafael Behr

After years of failed gimmicks and polarisation under the Tories, Britain is ready for a more grown-up approach

“Look, if people don’t like the mug, they don’t have to get the mug,” Ed Miliband said, exasperated. We were on a train to Manchester for a televised leaders’ debate, a month before polling day in 2015. The mug in question bore the slogan “controls on immigration”. It was one of a set of five, each branded with a campaign pledge. “Other mugs are available,” the then Labour leader reminded me.

But the border control one had provoked paroxysms of indignation from the left and sneering disbelief from the right. Miliband’s frustration was palpable. His advisers spelled out the logic: the slogan was uncontroversial; the alternative to controlling immigration was not controlling immigration, and no one ever won an election promising that. On paper, it was a rational campaign priority.

Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist

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