Despite the immigration talk, majority of LabourList readers back free movement of labour

In the aftermath of UKIP’s victory in the European elections, immigration has returned to the fore of the British political debate. Last weekend, seven Labour MPs wrote an open letter to Ed Miliband, calling for tighter restrictions on the free movement of labour within the EU. Meanwhile, John Denham’s much talked about LabourList piece on Monday also called for a curb on free movement.

Despite these interventions, an overwhelming majority of LabourList readers would prefer to keep our immigration policy with the EU – almost 65% said they are opposed to changing it.

However, one in three readers would support a tougher stance on free movement. 14% echoed the Observer letter’s call for tighter restrictions from certain countries, while 17% said they would like to see an end to free movement altogether.

Miliband has talked about taking a tough approach to immigration several times over the past month, while Ed Balls has hinted that ending free movement might be something that needs considering. While this survey does show that a hefty majority of our readers have a pro-immigration stance, the 31% who are more sceptical shows that there is a strong base within the party for immigration reform.

Tax and spend

On Monday, sources whispered that Labour were considering revisiting Gordon Brown’s famous “popular tax rise” of 2002 and may put up National Insurance to fund a big increase in NHS spending.

Some wondered whether these whispers came from those trying to force Ed Balls into a decision on the subject. If so, they will be heartened by the results our survey (even if some in the shadow Treasury team might be less pleased) – you will always, always, be able to find Labour Party members who want to increase NHS spending and true enough, 52% of readers would support the move.

However, there is dissent on the matter, including from Fabian Society General Secretary Andrew Harrop, who outlined his opposition to the idea on LabourList yesterday.

46% of readers think that Labour should pledge an increase in NHS spending, but that it should not come from a rise in National Insurance, while almost 10% of you think that given the current black hole in the NHS’ finances, no spending increase should be proposed. Of those, 8% do not believe a rise in NI would be a good idea either, and a mere 2% of fiscally responsible social democrats still remain, favouring a tax rise and no spending increase.

Personally, I fail to see how Labour can pledge a spending increase in the health service, given the great big deficit that needs filling, and think that raising National Insurance when so many people are on short term or zero hour contracts could cause a sharp, painful rise in unemployment.

Hell hath no fury like no women shortlisted

With the brewing storm in South Wales, following Cynon Valley CLP’s opposition to the NEC’s decision to have an All-Women Shortlist for the selection there, we asked what readers’ preferred system would be for choosing where has an AWS.

30% said that Labour’s National Executive Committee should decide which constituencies have All-Women Shortlists, but that those constituencies can overturn the decision with a vote if members vote against. While many more would probably favour this method, there are issues around whether this would lead to the desired increase in women’s representation if implemented. While people tend to be in favour of AWS (over 70% here chose options supporting it), they too often feel it would not be suitable for their own constituency.

The truth is, if this policy were adopted we would see a significant drop in the number of women selected.

The current policy, where the NEC decides, won 22% of the vote. Removing the NEC from the process and allowing CLPs to choose alone received 19.57%, exactly the same number as voted for getting rid of All-Women Shortlists altogether.

1,027 readers voted in LabourList’s survey this week. Thanks to everyone who took part.