Manuel Cortes: Let’s call out Tories’ ugly migration rhetoric for what it really means

The nasty Tory party is at it again. The leaked, so-called “post-Brexit” immigration policy is a dog whistle for xenophobes.

Engineering labour shortages makes no economic sense and would damage both our living standards and public services. Some of the people most concerned about immigration – those left behind by globalisation – will be the hardest hit.

Shortages of key public workers tend to be more acute in our most deprived communities. An economic downturn invariably hits the poorest the hardest. That’s why we don’t need a dog eat dog immigration policy.

As today’s Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) interim report on economic justice shows, we need a new economic settlement to ensure no one is left behind.. We must build on the many Labour pledges in our 2017 manifesto that do just that. Let’s not go down the blind alley of blaming migrants for the many ills facing far too many of our people.

As the IPPR rightly says, we need higher wages to improve the lot of millions of workers and adequate levels of taxation on the wealthiest and corporations to fund the 21st century public services our people deserve. The good news is that Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell get this. That’s why a Labour government can’t come a day too soon.

The dangerous problem with the leaked post-Brexit Tory immigration policy is that it won’t work. It will make our country poorer and even more divided than it currently is. Rather than increase wages it will depress them. The reason for this, as the TUC has already highlighted, is because it will promote “illegal immigration”.

We will have labour shortages and EU nationals who our Tory government say will continue to enter our country on a visa-free basis. The Tories know creating entry restrictions into our country for EU nationals will lead to reciprocal arrangements. They know this won’t wash with the British public. Imagine having to get a visa to go to on your summer holidays to Costa del Sol, or Crete. Unthinkable and politically suicidal. 

Sadly, it won’t take unscrupulous bosses long to start exploiting this potential pool of labour. If you are working illegally, you have no rights and can be paid way below the minimum wage. I very much fear Tory Brexit cheerleaders want a US style labour market. From southern California, to New England, millions of so-called “illegals” toil hard without rights to keep the biggest economy in the world motoring. The authorities with tell you that they are clamping down but in effect they turn a blind eye. The US economy will collapse without them.

This is what Tory right-wingers want for our country. Don’t be fooled by their rhetoric. They really don’t give a monkey’s about immigration provided it gives bosses a pool of cheap labour to boost profits. So far, they have partly achieved this through deregulating our labour market. However to finish the job, they need something much bigger. They want to create an underground economy were workers will be fearful to stand up to their bosses because they may be deported.

Time for our party to call the Tories out on their intentions. Let’s stop the shadow boxing and get stuck in. We stand for a very different world. The antidote to the Tories free-market craziness is labour market regulation and a trade union in every workplace. The Tories seek to divide us. Our job is to create unity. Let’s build on a world were workers of all lands unite!

Manuel Cortes is general secretary of the TSSA.