Why Labour risks falling into same immigration trap that wrecked the Tories
If Labour talks tough about immigration while pragmatically agreeing to demands by business for more workers, they may end up campaigning against their own policy much like the Conservatives did
“As Home Secretary, I have one priority. I have to secure our borders and I will do whatever it takes to get the job done.” Following Keir Starmer’s reshuffle in the wake of Angela Rayner’s resignation, Shabana Mahmood clearly wanted to create an impression that she’d hit the ground running.
Someone should have reminded her that among an array of important duties, the Home Office is responsible for stopping terrorist attacks, so she must necessarily have more than a single priority.
Mahmood also held talks with the UK’s “Five Eyes” allies – the US, Australia , New Zealand and Canada – about taking “co-ordinated action” to tackle irregular migration and issued a warning that visas for countries which do not agree to migrant returns deals could be suspended.
Stopping the boats
These days, a tough stance on borders and migration appears to be a political necessity. And no one would disagree that stopping organised criminals sending desperate people across the English Channel in flimsy rubber boats, at risk of their lives, is the right thing to do. But ensuring there are legal routes for refugees to claim asylum is equally important.
Small-boat crossings have become an icon of an increasingly toxic debate, wrongly persuading large numbers of people that most migrants are here illegally, when they actually represent a fraction of those arriving in the UK with a visa.
Particularly in Scotland, businesses have spoken of the need for immigration to continue with Dr Liz Cameron, of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, describing it earlier this year as “not a choice but an economic necessity”. Universities also need the income provided by overseas students and the NHS and care sector need them to fill job vacancies.
Unfortunately, such realities are being overshadowed to an alarming extent. Labour risks falling into a similar trap as the Conservatives, talking tough about ‘defending our borders’ and thereby increasing the size of the anti-immigration constituency, while pragmatically allowing it to continue at levels such voters consider unacceptable.
As polls continue to show, the beneficiaries are Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. And their ideological opposition to immigration could well prove to be a Brexit-sized blow to our economy.
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