David Cameron is keen to place a cap on immigrants. I don’t know whether it will have a big ‘I’ on it and I don’t know if it will be removable or fastened under the chin with an unbreakable tag. I don’t even have the energy to find out if Clegg has announced his conversion to the idea. I expect the position is clearer now he’s seen the books. I don’t mean books written by immigrants, some of which are jolly good, obviously; I mean all those books with numbers in that ministers keep in their desk drawers.
In the pre-election debates, Nick was keen to talk about the system being a mess and not really talk about numbers, save to say that a cap could be a problem because we might reach it and then find we need someone who’s really good at something. He mumbled his way half-heartedly through his sort-of amnesty which he asserted was definitely not the same as an amnesty.
Gordon agreed with David that it would reward criminals. I’ve seen those criminals, bent double over the fields of Kent, up to no good.
Gordon did recognise that we have a skills shortage, but stressed that ‘We’re training up our own chefs’, which means we won’t need any more foreigners coming over here to cook our biryanis. All three men spoke as though immigration is nothing but a problem. None suggested that a human being is worth more than what they can add to GDP, and none mentioned the right to freedom of movement.
But it’s impossible to argue that people should be forced to stay where they were born – certainly not Belgium or Aldershot – so it follows that we’re allowed to move about. Isn’t that really the point?
Mythbuster: Immigration – the real story Isabelle Koksal counters the right wing myths with some facts and figures
Common cause in labour In France, Italy and elsewhere, migrants are organising, not just against racism but for their rights as workers. Vittorio Longhi reports
Essay: Europe’s hard borders Matthew Carr investigates the brutal border regimes of our ‘gated continent’ and suggests the possibility of a different politics of solidarity
February 15, 2003: The day the world said no to war Phyllis Bennis argues that while the day of mass protest did not stop the war, it did change history
Egypt: The revolution is alive Just before the second anniversary of the Egyptian revolution, Emma Hughes spoke to Ola Shahba, an activist who has spent 15 years organising in Egypt
Workfare: a policy on the brink Warren Clark explains how the success of the campaign against workfare has put the policy’s future in doubt
Tenant troubles The past year has seen the beginnings of a vibrant private tenants’ movement emerging. Christine Haigh reports
Co-operating with cuts in Lambeth Isabelle Koksal reports on how Lambeth’s ‘co-operative council’ is riding roughshod over co-operative principles in its drive for sell-offs and cuts in local services
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