Finally we have a manifesto which could allow Labour to win on immigration

The Tories have a record on immigration we can use against them – all talk and no action make much worse a system already desperately in need of reform. I’ve been arguing that Labour can win the public back on immigration for years. Now we have a manifesto that can make this possible. Let me explain why voters should have more confidence in our vision and why Labour’s manifesto gets immigration right.

The Tories have a simple immigration strategy – reduce annual “net migration” of all those entering or exiting the UK over a year to under 100,000. This number is completely arbitrary. It’s not a product of evidence about what the economy needs in the short or even medium term. According to the government’s own Office for Budgetary Responsibility, an extra £6bn of borrowing will be needed annually if the target is met.

Unsurprisingly from a Tory government in denial, this is neither acknowledged in their manifesto nor is there any plan for how this hole in the budget might be filled.

That’s not all that is wrong. Net migration includes everyone coming or going – including students and British citizens. Even Enoch Powell in his “Rivers of Blood” speech – a benchmark of a twisted, far right ideology – acknowledged that foreign students “are not, and never have been, immigrants.” Yet Theresa May continues to include them in her net migration target aiming for deep cuts – and so stands to the right of Powell on immigration. This should get alarm bells ringing.

There has been a drop in net migration, but as I’ve argued before this is a hollow victory – a key factor is that more British citizens (who are included the figures) are choosing to leave and not return. A target that can be met by encouraging more Brits to leave to win public confidence represents an immigration strategy in crisis.

So we need Labour’s manifesto to be implemented urgently. We all deserve something better than an arbitrary figure that raises huge debts with no plan to cover the costs achieved by citizens leaving Britain.

Labour puts the focus on impact. Our priorities are on “growth, jobs and prosperity” first and then building strategies about how this achieved through areas like immigration. Tories risk our prosperity because it comes second to an arbitrary target – Labour won’t put the cart before the horses. This means something. Instead of the constant, poisonous drip of scapegoating migrants to deflect attention from ruinous cuts to public services, Labour will invest in these services – supported by reintroducing the migration impact fund that the Tories cut in 2010 (and for the return of which I’ve been campaigning ever since) plus an additional contribution from high net worth individual visas. This funding – paid for by migrants – can be targeted to reduce impacts of migrants on public services. It is a no-brainer the Tories opposed because they’d rather cipher off the funding to other pet projects. It’s time the tide changed.

While the Tories try to smear Labour as backing uncontrolled migration, the truth is that it has never been higher than under the Tories’ “control” – and that Labour’s manifesto sets out clear support for “fair immigration rules”. We oppose requiring British citizens to earn a salary here before they are allowed to bring a spouse or family to their country – a policy that has been breaking up British families or forcing them to live abroad – provided there is no recourse to public funds.

Labour stands for getting the evidence right. While many talk about the labour and skills shortages we have, Labour will be the first to open a conversation with businesses, trade unions, devolved governments and others to put together the evidence of where the gaps really are – and only then create a new system to get this right.

A key part of this work is cracking down on unscrupulous employers and ending workplace exploitation. Labour is also committed to stopping overseas-only recruitment and increasing prosecutions of employers evading the minimum wage. These are steps in the right direction.

Labour also gets right that refugees shouldn’t be thrown into a net migration pool to be cut as if their circumstances are immaterial. The humanitarian crisis since 2015 has not been taken too seriously by the Tories at all – and our contribution to supporting those in need is too little and too late. It’s great to see a commitment to a more positive engagement in a crisis continuing – even if not on every daily front pages.

Finally, Labour will get things right at our borders. The government has suppressed reports by the independent inspector – as these were critical, causing deep embarrassment to May and David Cameron – and cut thousands of Border Force personnel, as they have with the police. Instead, they have tried to turn us all into unpaid and untrained immigration officers delivering border enforcement on the cheap. This will all be brought to an end.

Labour offers voters a new deal on so many important issues – and this now includes immigration, too. I’m thrilled we are not being too squeamish and avoiding a topic that is so often talked about. We need policies backed by evidence, but we also need a national conversation bringing the public back in.

Rather than reacting piecemeal to right-wing tabloids, we need to listen and engage with communities to get clear expectations, frustrations and a road map to prosperity for all. I hope this will extend to areas like citizenship, where a new advisory group is urgently required to re-examine the usefulness of a British citizenship test few citizens can pass. It is currently more like a bad pub quiz. Why this has been allowed to continue without a single consultation, study or focus group despite over two million sitting the test is beyond me – and, as a migrant who passed the test and became British, I’m readily available to fix it.

Early last year I believed Labour could win on immigration if it got its principles and policies right. There is undoubtedly much work to do to win public support and that will not be a quick fix. We need a positive vision that brings communities together, not divides. Labour’s manifesto pledges on immigration gets right what needs to get done – principles of fairness and respect we can defend on the doorstep, policies based on evidence and a forward-looking conversation that unites us. Labour can and should win public confidence on immigration again.

Thom Brooks is head of Durham Law School and author of Becoming British: UK Citizenship Examined (Biteback 2016).