Labour voters believe that immigration is the biggest burden on the NHS, according to new polling. Analysis by Merlin Strategy who asked 2,000 people, immigration was the biggest factor behind the crisis in the NHS ahead of issues such as lack of social care, obesity and junk food.
The poll also found that 20% of those who voted for Labour in last year’s general election would now consider casting their ballot for Reform UK. Scarlett Maguire, the director of Merlin Strategy, said: “Labour voters are clear that they want to see action on cost of living, healthcare, and immigration. The Government needs to show that it is in tune with these priorities and that it understands what matters to their core voters.”
The research, conducted in May, found that one in four of those asked blamed immigration for the current state of the NHS, with 22% attributing it to a mental health crisis, 13% to lack of social care provisions with 12% blaming junk food and obesity.
Sir Keir Starmer has hardened his stance on immigration in recent months, warning in a landmark speech last month that the nation risks becoming an “island of strangers” as he set out his plans for how the government would end what he called “a squalid chapter for our politics, our economy, and our country.”
This is despite him stating on the record on multiple occasions as leader of the opposition that he believes that the benefits of immigration outweighed the negatives.
Maxwell Marlow, the director of public affairs at the Adam Smith Institute, which commissioned the poll, said: “It is clear that the British people have felt the impact of mass immigration on healthcare.
“Unless the Government moves quickly, urging immigrants to purchase private health care as a requirement for any visa other than tourism, then they will continue to hold the Government accountable for the very rapid deterioration in their access to healthcare.”
The polling comes as Reform UK continue to lead in many polls having recently won a Labour held parliamentary seat in Runcorn and Helsby following a by-election.
The seat had previously been one of the safest Labour seats in the country, with the party winning it with a majority of over 14,000 in July’s general election.
But it fell to Nigel Farage’s party following the conviction of Mike Amesbury for assault and a focus group held by Merlin Strategy in the area gives some indication as to why that might be.
One member of the focus group remarked: “I don’t think they give a toss about us.”
Of Starmer’s plans to clamp down on the sale of tobacco and vapes, another commented: “How is that really relatable to the working person?” Claiming that it was simply “just something shiny to put in the media”.