How can pro-immigration politicians battle the pessimists?

The world has turned upside down. All three major parties are in a race to the bottom, aping Nigel Farage’s rhetoric in their various bids to appear tougher on immigration than the next, while Mayor of London Boris Johnson is about the last politician standing in being openly pro-immigration. We probably get the politicians we deserve, but this doesn’t mean politicians need always be swayed by public opinion. In the long run at least, being right can make you popular.

Tony Blair ruled this country for 10 years and he wasn’t afraid to defend his relative openness compared to many in the country. At the end of last year he sent a prescient warning to Ed Miliband: “Overall I would like to say that I think immigration has been good for Britain and most immigrants have assimilated well. So don’t make them a scapegoat for our problems.”

Clearly, in broad terms the British public wants fewer immigrants. A recent Sky News poll found that 27% believe the wave of immigration Britain has experienced in the last decade has brought no positive benefit to the nation, while 52% say they will be more likely to vote for a party that promises to “significantly” reduce the level of migration.

However, this “all or nothing” poll hides a multitude of opinions. Dr Scott Blinder from Compas has dug a little deeper, finding that in the British public’s mind, not all immigrants are equal: “When thinking about immigrants, respondents were most likely to think of asylum seekers (62%) and least likely to think of students (29%).” This matters because at the time of the study, the largest group of immigrants coming to the UK are students (37%), while asylum seekers represent just 4%.

So what should Labour be doing about this? As the Compas poll shows, there are some low-hanging fruit for closet defenders of immigration: international students. After all, they are effectively propping up our education system, and much else besides: BIS estimates that international students contribute £7.9 billion to the UK economy each year.

Britain is currently the second most popular destination for students but we are losing our share and appeal. An NUS survey of international students last year found: 40% of respondents would not advise a friend or relative from their home country to come to the UK to study; 62% of South Asian respondents said that they would not recommend UK study to a friend; and 45% of taught postgraduate respondents would not recommend UK study to a friend.

Within this context, the government’s proposals to charge students to use the NHS and impose landlord checks are ludicrous. The NUS is running a campaign against the NHS charges, noting: “the government spent £33 million treating foreign nationals in 2011, £21 million of which were recovered. This represents a net cost of £12 million.”

As bad as Labour was on immigration, this government is making an even greater hash of it. Just consider the Entrepreneurs Visa regime, with the pitiful 119 Graduate Entrepreneur Visas issued and the backlog of 9,000 applications for Entrepreneur. Overturning the Labour’s strict, but at least transparent, points-based visa rules, this government is making the process significantly more bureaucratic by bringing back the subjective “genuineness” tests. Under Labour you needed to employ an expensive lawyer to ensure your expensive visa application got through the hoops; under the coalition immigrants are increasingly at the mercy of subjective bureaucrats.

Immigration can’t and shouldn’t be defended solely on the economic benefits it brings. But given that this is one of major gripes of wannabe populist politicians, it’s a major pillar on which pro-immigration politicians should battle the pessimists. However, as things stand, politicians are pandering to a misinformed public (Ipsos Mori has found that the public think that 31% of the population are immigrants, when the official figures are 13%). It’s time pro-immigrant MPs spoke truth to the power of the mob.

Philip Salter is Director of The Entrepreneurs Network