Immigration: Tough stuff will certainly not be enough

By Tim Finch

Now is the time for a ‘profound’ rethinking of Labour policy, according to Ed Miliband. All ideas in tune with Labour values are welcome as the exercise starts with a ‘blank page’. One big issue which Labour struggled with throughout its 13 years in power was immigration, so a radical reshaping of the party’s policy response would seem in order. But a new collection of essays called Immigration under Labour which I co-edited with David Goodhart, shows that the review needs to be a balanced and sophisticated one. Labour got many things wrong on immigration, but it got others right – particularly by the end of its time in office.

More tough stuff will certainly not be enough. This is what led the Conservatives to saddle themselves with their immigration cap, which will be unveiled today. The cap has been criticised from all sides because it is likely to be economically damaging without meeting the public’s desire for lower immigration.

It is that desire which leads Matt Cavanagh, special advisor on Home Affairs at No 10 in the later Labour years, to argue in his essay that the mantra of a new Labour policy should be ‘pro migration, but less of it’. But this can only be achieved through sensible long term management of migration flows – hard graft and smart action, not tough talk and quick wins. During the Labour leadership campaign there was some flirting with new restrictions. Hopefully, the new shadow cabinet team will not be lured down this path – primarily because the Points Based system which Labour put in place under Gordon Brown was well designed to do the job of bearing down on in-flows through robust selectivity.

However, if the long term aim is to reduce immigration – which is certainly what the majority of the public (including the core Labour vote) wants – then the PBS will not deliver it on its own. The main issue is that our economic model is heavily dependent on immigration at both the high skilled and low skilled end. (The reaction from business to the cap has shown that.) So, if we want fewer immigrants, we need to rebuild our economy so that more of the jobs it creates can be filled by people already living in the UK. Policies to skill-up the domestic workforce to equip them to take up the vacancies available, policies to target new industries on areas with high existing unemployment and policies to create long term jobs with reasonable levels of pay are all needed. More controversially, the role of welfare to work schemes in channelling the workless into sectors which would otherwise be filled by migrants might need to be looked at. It may even be time to consider whether as a nation we are prepared to accept slightly lower or at least slower economic growth in exchange for more stable communities.

This is where the real work of Ed Miliband’s overhaul of Labour policy should be focussed. Immigration was not a cause but a symptom of an economic model which even at its zenith failed to deliver for too many people in our society. Both the ‘squeezed middle’ and the ‘white working class’ felt excluded from the boom – and this sense of disgruntlement led them to desert Labour and blame migrants. Labour now needs to win back these voters, but not of course by demonising migrants.

In power, Labour was woefully slow to open up a genuine dialogue on immigration, out of a misplaced fear that this was the racist territory of old hate figures like Enoch Powell. Now, quite rightly, it is okay to talk about it. Indeed an honest wide ranging debate in which all shades of opinion can be voiced is essential. But out of that needs to come a policy position and as importantly a political narrative which is framed in positive, forward looking terms. Migration is both a fact of life in a globalised world and in many ways a good thing. Labour’s future stance needs to reflect that. But it also needs to fit with the clear aspiration of many voters for an economy and society which is more geared to their needs and more sensitive to their fears.