Don't Mention Immigration

Matt cartoon December 16
Dan Hodges and The Telegraph cartoonist Matt both took the opportunity to lampoon a recent speech from the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, the other day which was unfortunately overshadowed by the release of an official briefing document to Labour MPs advising them to 'move the conversation on' if voters raise the issue of immigration on the doorstep.  

Now it's not everyday that Party leaders disown one of their own officials documents, but someone at a very senior level must have signed the briefing off given the highly sensitive nature of the subject matter.

If you ask me Labour's position on Europe is indefensible and the Party's refusal to have a referendum over the UK's continued membership of the European Union has really just played into UKIP's hands - because it makes Labour look as if they don't trust the voters to have their say.

But just like the Scottish referendum on independence it's a matter of democracy if you ask me, even though I would personally vote to stay in because, warts and all, the EU project has helped bring peace and prosperity to Europe over the past 50 years..   

Labour's immigration policy is an incoherent shambles

Ed Miliband and his party are staggering around like pub drunks, following Ukip, not following Ukip, slurring tough talk they can't back up

Labour leader Ed Miliband speaking about immigration in Great Yarmouth Photo: Jason Bye

By Dan Hodges - The Telegraph

He did it again. Twice in the space of five days, Ed Miliband has stood up, adopted his serious statesman scowl, and promised that he “won’t offer fake solutions”. And then proceeded to offer a fake solution to one of the major issues of the day.

Last week it was the deficit. He was going to eradicate the deficit in the lifetime of the next parliament, he said. He was then asked how. He couldn’t answer.

Today he’s just taken to the stage in Great Yarmouth, and pledged that Labour would “control immigration fairly”. Just to make sure everyone got the message, there was a big slogan behind him saying “Controlling Immigration Fairly”.

How was Miliband going to do that, we all wondered. And again, answer came there none. 

In what was billed as a “major immigration speech” Miliband spoke for just seven minutes. The only proposal he proffered – unless I blinked and missed it – was that bosses who exploited migrant workers would be jailed.

What counted as “exploitation” in this context wasn’t explained. But we already have minimum wage legislation. We already have laws against human trafficking and “modern slavery”. We already have health and safety regulation.

Perhaps Miliband is going to toughen up on this. Who knows? But this we do know – his proposal will do nothing to stop immigration into the UK. He could have spoken for 700 minutes. If that was his solution, it was a meaningless one.

The overwhelming majority of migrant workers into the UK are not being exploited. Go into a Starbucks. Go into a Costa. A large proportion of the staff will be EU migrants. They are not chained to the toasting machine. They will not be turning tricks in the basement. There is no need for them to. There are plenty of jobs for them, they have the skills to work here, and the have the legal right to work here.

Today Miliband did the worse thing any mainstream politician can do on immigration. He talked up the problem, and then failed to provide anything that comes close to resembling a coherent solution.

If you want to control immigration, there is only one thing you can do. You have to stop free movement from the EU. Cracking down on bad employers will make zero difference. Most EU migrants work for good employers. Cracking down on benefits will make zero difference. Most EU migrants don’t come here to claim benefits, they come here to work. So if you really do want to “control immigration fairly”, then you have to reintroduce immigration controls within the European Union.

That’s it. That is the immigration debate, right there. There is no “third way”. There is no way to “triangulate”. It’s binary. You have open borders, or you don’t.

Ukip, to be fair, have a coherent position on all this. It is motivated by racism and prejudice and would be a total catastrophe for the UK economy and Britain as a whole. But they want to withdraw from the EU, close the borders, and kick a lot of existing migrants out.

The Conservative Party have a more positive view of migration, but appreciate there are problems – primarily political – with the current immigration settlement. So they want to renegotiate within the EU, and if they fail, then – as David Cameron has said in terms – advocate British withdrawal. And even if Cameron doesn’t advocate withdrawal, the new immigration settlement will be placed before the British people in a referendum, and they will be allowed to have their say. Again, whatever your personal view of it, that is a coherent position.

Labour has no coherent position. It has a shambles. An incoherent mess. On immigration, Ed Miliband is now the pub drunk, staggering around the bar, slurring his words, telling everyone how tough he is, without really having a clue who is, where he is or what he is doing.

As far as I can work it out, Labour’s immigration policy is the following. It supports immigration. And, like the Tories, it sees a political problem with immigration. And, like the Tories, it wants to try to negotiate a new settlement on immigration. But unlike the Tories, if it doesn’t get a new settlement, it will do absolutely nothing. Labour won’t advocate EU withdrawal. Labour won’t put the issue to the British people in a referendum. It will simply carrying on staggering around the bar, shouting the odds.

So we now have the following situation. Miliband pledges he will not try to “out-Ukip Ukip”. Then he sends out members of his shadow cabinet to try to “out-Ukip Ukip”. Labour tells its candidates and its activists they should not raise the issue of immigration on the doorstep. Unless the voter is planning on voting Ukip. At which point, it tells them, they should raise the issue, and explain how tough Labour is going to be on immigration. Even though Labour is not going to be tough on immigration. And even though Labour is not supposed to be trying to “out-Ukip Ukip”. Miliband then pledges to control immigration, fairly. Even though, in fact, he has no plan for controlling immigration fairly, or otherwise. Miliband says he will not make promises he can’t keep. And then delivers a promise he won’t have a snowball in hell’s chance of keeping, and that he knows full well he won’t have a snowball in hell’s chance of keeping, and that the entire country knows he won’t have a snowball in hell’s chance of keeping.

And to what end? What did Miliband think he was going to achieve during those seven minutes he was on his feet this afternoon? What was his strategy in pushing immigration back to the top of the news agenda?

The answer, of course, is the same answer we always get when we question Labour’s strategy. There is no strategy. They’re making it up as they go along. Chase Ukip. Don’t chase Ukip. Talk tough on immigration. Don’t talk about immigration. Talk up the issue. Get off the issue.

Ed Miliband is just staggering around on immigration. Soon he will be flat on his back in the gutter. And when he wakes up, he won’t be staring at the stars.

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