Leaked letter suggests Labour will use informal events to help address immigration concerns

Reports today suggest that Labour are planning ways to address local peoples’ concerns over immigration. In a bid to counter Ukip’s anti-immigration rhetoric, Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has written to the party’s MPs and prospective parliamentary candidates (PPCs) with suggestions about how they might address the subject of immigration with local people.

In the leaked document, Cooper writes:

“It is important people know that Labour are listening to their concerns on immigration. Labour got things wrong in the past, particularly in not introducing transitional controls for eastern Europe. And we’ve changed on immigration.”

To show people that they are taking the subject of immigration seriously, Cooper has apparently encouraged Labour MPs and PPCs to hold informal events like coffee mornings to discuss the issue with constituents.

Crucially, the letter goes on to suggest that Labour won’t buy into Ukip-style hyperbole. Instead, Cooper encourages Labour candidates to counter claims made by Farage’s party by reiterating facts such as: “there is no evidence of an overall impact on wages” from immigration and that “only 2.6 per cent of EU migrants claim unemployment benefits”.

A Cooper spokesperson told the Daily Mail:

“We believe we should be talking about immigration a lot more and one way to do that is at coffee mornings.

We shouldn’t ape UKIP, we should take them on. This document outlines our progressive approach to immigration – it has benefits, but those benefits need to be shared by everyone.”

To further discuss the party’s position on immigration, Cooper’s letter invites MPs and PPCs to ‘drop-in’ sessions with her this afternoon.