I am writing to express deep alarm and disappointment at your recent announcements opposing a youth mobility scheme and cancelling care worker visas. These decisions are not only irresponsible and damaging — they represent a political miscalculation of staggering proportions. They are accelerating the breakdown of our health and care system in an extremely dangerous and negligent way, undermining essential services that millions rely on.
It is increasingly clear that Labour is abandoning its core voter base — young people, progressives, and working-class families — in a short-sighted and ultimately futile attempt to appeal to Reform UK voters. These moves are alienating your natural supporters while failing to win over the very people you’re trying to court.
The data: Labour Is losing the youth vote
Let me show you the numbers, taken from YouGov’s weekly polling up to 6 May 2025:
Labour’s collapse among 18–24 year olds:
- January 2025: Labour polled between 36–48 per cent
- May 2025: Labour has fallen to just 24 per cent
Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats (26 per cent) and Greens (17 per cent) now outpace Labour combined.
Among 25–49 year olds:
- Labour has slipped from 33 per cent to 27 per cent over the same period
- Reform UK support remains very low in this age group
Older age groups offer no redemption:
- Labour polls just 20–23 per cent among 50–64 year olds
- Among over-65s — where Reform dominates — Labour is stuck at 11–15 per cent
Reform’s support comes from the elderly — and you’re hurting them
Home Secretary, your strategy appears based on the assumption that hardline immigration policies will peel support away from Reform UK. But Reform’s support is overwhelmingly concentrated in the 65+ age group — not among younger voters.
So let me ask plainly: What is the point of chasing voters who are not in play for Labour?
Worse still, cancelling care worker visas directly harms many of the older voters who lean toward Reform. The care sector is already in crisis. Many elderly people rely daily on migrant care workers for survival. Cutting off this pipeline of essential workers will devastate care provision — particularly for the very age group Labour is trying to court.
You are hurting the over-65 crowd — the very people you are trying to win over. A worsening care worker shortage will only push them further toward Reform.
And let’s be honest — no one was complaining about the care worker visas, not even the Reform supporters I’ve spoken to.
This isn’t just self-defeating. It’s cruel.
You won’t fill these roles with British workers
Cancelling care worker visas is not just politically toxic — it’s also utterly unrealistic.
Let’s be honest:
- These roles are physically and emotionally demanding
- They offer low pay, unpredictable hours, and chronic understaffing
- British workers are not stepping forward to take these jobs
If you believe that slashing migration will push British workers into this sector, you are mistaken. What will happen instead?
- More care homes will shut
- Waiting lists will grow
- People will die waiting for help
How is that morally or economically justifiable?
And as for “saving British jobs” — why are you trying to appeal to a demographic that is above working age and not actively seeking work? It makes no sense.
And to be doing all this, just to meet a migration quota that most of the general public doesn’t even care about, makes it even more baffling.
Youth mobility: another self-inflicted wound
Blocking a youth mobility scheme is yet another blow — especially to the generation that has already lost its European future due to Brexit. Young people overwhelmingly want a more open, outward-looking country. They want the chance to live, study, and work abroad.
Denying them that opportunity won’t win Labour votes — it will simply push more young people toward the Liberal Democrats and Greens, as is already happening.
Crucially, polling by YouGov and UK in a Changing Europe found that 57 per cent of Britons support rejoining the EU Single Market, even if that means restoring free movement of people.
Most Labour voters want to rejoin the EU
In addition to national support for free movement, polling confirms that around 75 per cent of Labour voters now support rejoining the European Union. This was highlighted in a Redfield & Wilton Strategies poll in partnership with UK in a Changing Europe.
National Party trends: Labour isn’t losing to Reform
This chart reinforces:
- Reform UK is cannibalising Tory support — not Labour’s
- Labour’s polling is stable despite Reform’s rise
- Liberal Democrats and Greens are gaining from Labour’s drift on Europe
This strategy Is failing — on every front
To summarise:
- Labour is haemorrhaging support among 18–24 year olds and losing ground among 25–49s year olds
- Reform UK dominates only among over-65s, who are not shifting to Labour
- You’re hurting the elderly, damaging the care system, and alienating the youth — all to meet an arbitrary migration quota
- And the public can see through it.
Labour is not supposed to be the party that scapegoats migrants and undercuts carers just to win headlines.
That’s not leadership. That’s capitulation.
Final thought
Your saving grace could be the upcoming EU Reset Talk on 19 May 2025. Please — do not let your core voters down by doubling down on Brexit enforcement and continuing with deeply unpopular policies among your young and loyal voter base.
Can Labour stop panicking and lead — and stand by your principles?
You will not outflank Reform UK on immigration. And by trying, you are destroying trust among the people Labour needs most. This is a dangerous, cowardly strategy, and it is costing you votes, credibility, and the moral high ground.
We need a Labour Party that leads with principle, not panic.
I urge you to reverse this path before the damage becomes irreversible — not just to Labour’s electoral chances, but to the country itself.
