Hands: Labour’s denial on Immigration

Greg Hands MP was surprised to hear Labour leader Ed Miliband admit that he would still like to see more immigration into the UK. Even though under Labour immigration rocketed (with net migration at a record 2.2 million people – twice the population of Birmingham) the Labour leader refused to admit that the last government had let too many people into the country.

In an interview last week, Ed Miliband:    

• · Denied that net migration was too high under Labour.
• · Denied that immigration needs to be reduced now.
• · Denied that Government plans to reduce net migration down to sustainable levels in the tens not hundreds of thousands a year should be supported.

These denials confirm that Labour still aren’t being straight with people on immigration. And there are other examples:

• · Last month, the Shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, tried to claim that Labour had reduced migration – when the 12 months before June 2010 actually saw record levels of net migration.
• · A few weeks ago, Ed Miliband’s former speech writer, Lord Glasman, said that ‘Labour lied to people about the extent of immigration’ – but Ed Miliband refuses to admit this.
• · Ed Miliband has also attacked the Government’s cap on economic migration, calling it a ‘very dubious thing’ – even though it is backed by more than 4 in 5 people including two thirds of Labour voters.

The Coalition Government is committed to controlling immigration. The Government aims to reduce net migration down from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands a year. This will be achieved by:

• · Capping economic migration from outside the EU.
• · Reforming the largest route, the student visa system, and clamping down on widespread abuses – student visa numbers are expected to fall by up to 80,000 or a quarter of the current total.
• · Breaking the link between temporary visa routes and permanent settlement, and addressing the family visa route.

Greg Hands MP said: “Labour aren’t just in denial about debt, they are also in denial on immigration –refusing to admit that levels of migration have been too high. They are also refusing to back the immigration cap and the reforms to student visas.

“Only the Government is committed to bringing down net migration back to the levels of the 1990s – the tens of thousands not the hundreds of thousands”.