In a significant repositioning of Labour’s views on immigration, Ed Miliband on Saturday pledged a series of measures to control immigration if his party is voted to power.
Addressing a group of supporters in Wirrel, Mr. Miliband said “Labour got it wrong” on an issue that opinion polls say is the second most important election issue in the minds of voters after the National Health Service.
Tighter border controlsMr. Miliband said that a Labour party government would introduce tighter border controls with the recruitment of 1000 additional border staff (“paid for by a small charge on some visitors to the U.K., like they have in the United States”); put a cap on the number of workers coming in from outside the European Union; and introduce a system to count people who go in and out of the country.
Migrants would not be able to claim social welfare benefits for at least two years. The government would stop child benefits and child tax credits being claimed by foreign workers for children living in other countries.
The Labour party will end the undercutting of wages of local workers through the exploitation of migrant workers, Mr. Miliband said, and achieve social integration by encouraging those who come in to learn English.
“So in the future all healthcare professionals will be required to speak English to a sufficient standard so they can care effectively for patients,” he said.
The Labour party’s new immigration policy is being seen as driven by the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), whose leader Nigel Farage, is a strong advocate of leaving the EU arguing that workers from the EU are putting pressure on British public services and are undercutting British jobs.
Studies have debunked a great many of UKIP’s immigration claims. A study by Jonathan Wadsworth of the London School of Economics in February this year shows that the share of immigrants among working age adults has risen from eight per cent to 10 per cent between 1995 and 2014, but the U.K. is not different from rich countries in this respect.
“Fears about adverse consequences of rising immigration regularly seen in opinion polls have not, on average, materialised. It is hard to find evidence of much displacement of U.K. workers or lower wages. Any negative impacts on wages of less skilled groups are small,” he said.
‘Overplaying the card’Senior labour leaders have themselves cautioned the party on overplaying the immigration card in a bid to outdo the UKIP. Senior Labour leader Diane Abbott, who is contesting from Hackney North and Stoke Newington said in an article for The Guardian that while it was necessary to pledge fair immigration controls, the fact that it is the party’s second manifesto pledge and being continuously highlighted by Mr. Miliband in his speeches was “depressing”.
“Despite all the protestations to the contrary, we give the impression that we are a party running scared of UKIP.”
