Immigration- whose line is it anyway?

I do have some sympathy with Culture Minister, Margaret Hodge MP. Fighting for your seat at the General Election against BNP Leader Nick Griffin can’t be a pleasant prospect. Out of the 51 local council seats in the area, 16 are held by the far right organisation- Griffin cannot be underestimated.


Of the explanations for the surge in BNP support is the perceived lack of willingness of the main parties to discuss immigration. But today, Hodge came out with the line that new immigrants should be banned from claiming benefits.

Labour policies on immigration mainly focus on kicking out illegal migrants more effectively, rather than disincentivising people from coming here in the first place- which presumably was what Hodge was suggesting. By contrast, the Tories propose a cap on the numbers allowed to settle here. The Lib Dems make the interesting observation that it is not overall numbers that is the issue, rather the numbers that settle in a particular region. They propose a regional points based system to distribute migrants to areas where particular skills are needed. None of these policies are particularly fleshed out- nor, in truth, does Poli-chick think they are that different from each other.

The mainstream parties risk being drowned out by BNP screams if they are not more upfront about their immigration policies. Hodge shouldn’t feel she has to fight the BNP on their terms – whilst they may have clear policies on migration; they are less forthcoming on their education, health and economic policies. If the main parties clear the fog, the BNP will be exposed...



Poli-Chick