Britain's animosity to immigration should be addressed, not exploited
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By Lewis Wedgwood
It is the strangest irony that, entirely for the sake of courting public support, politicians often turn their attentions entirely to their fellow politicians, rather than to the electorate they wish to impress. With no issue is this more apparent than immigration. MPs’ desires to besmirch each other often lead to esoteric arguments that are worryingly disconnected from Britain’s mood, and seem to exploit public feeling more often than seriously addressing it.
This August, for example, when the Office of National Statistics announced that net immigration had increased by 21% to 239,000, both main parties leapt to arms. Labour depicted this as the Conservatives faltering on their pledge to cut immigration to ‘tens of thousands’, whilst Tories presented it as evidence of their governmental predecessors’ ‘addiction’ to immigration. Both parties clearly agree that the issue should be dealt with by arguing over statistics and trying to appeal by appearing ‘tougher’ than ...
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