The clip Nigel Farage chose to circulate perfectly incapsulated the problem. It was of the Prime Minister, then in the middle of the 2020 Labour leadership campaign, addressing the issue of immigration.

‘We have to make the case for the benefits of immigration,’ he exclaimed ardently, ‘the benefits of free movement. We have to make the case for freedom of movement. And we have to make it strongly.’

That was the real Keir Starmer. Passionate. Liberal. Pro-migration. Pro-European.

The person who stood at the Downing Street podium and declared, ‘We risk becoming an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together’, was not Keir Starmer. It obviously was him physically. But the words weren’t his own. They were written for him by his advisors, acting on the instructions of Morgan McSweeney, his Chief of Staff.

McSweeney is Starmer’s ‘political brain’. He crafted the masterplan that took him to No 10. And he is the man in charge of keeping him there.

Which is why the speech was delivered. ‘People who like politics will try to make this all about politics,’ Starmer claimed, ‘about this or that strategy, targeting these voters, responding to that party. No. I am doing this because it is right, because it is fair, and because it is what I believe in.’

Again, these words were inserted by his advisors. Specifically because they – and everyone else in Westminster – know his announcement was made directly in response to Reform’s gains in the local elections. And Starmer doesn’t actually believe a word of it.

On one level the Prime Minister deserves credit. Pragmatism is a vital component in politics. And when a senior politician’s principles collide with the wishes and aspirations of the British people, it’s important that they demonstrate they are willing to listen and learn.

But the current strategy of getting Keir Starmer to parrot Morgan McSweeney’s words to the country, then guide his government in an entirely different direction when the cameras are switched off, is becoming increasingly unsustainable. As his own ministers are starting to recognise.

With the exception of the Chancellor and Home Secretary, most members of the Cabinet were blindsided by the ‘Island of Strangers’ speech. And as one said to me: ‘The biggest problem with this government is our delivery doesn’t match our rhetoric. Especially when it comes from No 10 or the Treasury. Public confidence is destroyed, and we look like liars. At every stage it’s too much hyperbole.’

Yesterday, I couldn’t find a single MP of any party who thinks Keir Starmer has in instinctive desire to cut immigration. ‘We’re letting Farage set the agenda. And it won’t end well for us,’ one veteran backbench MP observed to me.

If you go to the official Downing Street website, on the home page, in bright red letters, is the Government’s ‘Plan For Change’.

It lists six ‘measurable milestones’: raising living standards, building new homes, cutting waiting lists, putting more police on the beat, raising educational standards and securing green energy. Immigration doesn’t feature.

Perhaps this disconnect between Keir Starmer’s priorities and the nation’s priorities – according to the pollster YouGov, the voters now view immigration as the number one issue facing Britain - wouldn’t matter if his policies aligned with his words.

But if you look at the small print of the measures contained within the immigration White Paper, it becomes clear it’s a classic exercise in pushing one small boat away, then pulling two back.

So yes, automatic citizenship after five years will be terminated. But there will also be a ‘fast-track’ for ‘high-contributing individuals who play by the rules and contribute to the economy’.

Sir Keir Starmer leaves 10 Downing Steet to take Prime Minister's Questions on May 7. The Prime Minister's 'island of strangers' remark was made directly in response to Reform's gains in the local elections, claims Dan Hodges 

Morgan McSweeney, pictured, is Starmer’s ‘political brain’. He crafted the masterplan that took him to No 10. And he is the man in charge of keeping him there

Overseas recruitment of care workers will end. But overseas students and other overseas workers will be free to ‘switch’ to a care worker visa. And there will be visa extensions for existing staff.

‘Faster routes’ will be developed ‘for bringing people to the UK who have the right skills and experience to supercharge UK growth in strategic industries’ and ‘the number of workers that an overseas business can send to the UK with the aim of establishing a presence in the UK’ will be doubled.

The key moment of Monday’s press conference came when the Prime Minister finally diverted from Morgan McSweeney’s carefully prepared script. The Sunday newspapers had been full of briefings that ministers were preparing to change the rules to allow the deportation of foreign criminals, if necessary by challenging the European Convention on Human Rights.

Asked if he was prepared to consider quitting the ECHR completely, the waffle and obfuscation were momentarily set aside. ‘No,’ he replied succinctly. ‘You can’t strike those deals with other countries to work more closely together on law enforcement, to smash the gangs and to work on returns agreements - which is what we want to do - if in the next breath, you’ll say you don’t believe in international law.’

There are good arguments for respecting the wishes of the British people, and taking firm action on immigration. There are also legitimate – if misguided – arguments for supporting migration.

But Keir Starmer is now doing the most politically – and socially – toxic thing of all. He is talking tough on immigration, and heightening the saliency of the issue, without actually taking the measures necessary to get to grips with it.

And there can only be one winner from that approach. Yesterday, I met with a senior advisor to Nigel Farage. He could barely contain his glee at the Prime Minister’s attempt to mimic his boss.

‘It was unbelievable,’ he laughed. ‘It was so over the top. He was saying things Nigel wouldn’t dare say now. We’d see it as too inflammatory.’

The voters know when they’re being played for fools. After years of empty promises to take back control of the borders by the Tories, their cynicism detectors are turned to the maximum setting.

As a result of which they can smell inauthenticity a mile off. And Keir Starmer is currently emitting a very strong whiff of it.

He is not, as some of his Left-wing critics have claimed, the new Enoch Powell. He’s the new Mike Yarwood. Unsubtly stealing the Reform leader’s clothes, words and mannerisms in an attempt to garnish applause from the British people.

It’s not going to work. Keir Starmer can be true to Morgan McSweeeny’s political vision. Or he can be true to himself. But he can no longer be both.