Yvette Cooper refused four times on Tuesday to repeat Sir Keir Starmer’s “island of strangers” warning about the risks of sky-high migration into the UK.
The home secretary was asked repeatedly whether she was aware the prime minister had planned to use the term, an echo of Enoch Powell’s infamous 1968 “rivers of blood” speech.
Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning britain">Britain, she said she was not aware Sir Keir planned to use the term.
And, asked four times whether she would use the phrase, Ms Cooper ducked the question, stressing that the PM wanted to stress the need to “control and manage” migration.