While numbers of migrants from Bulgaria and Romania continue to be illusive guesstimates, the debate over the role of immigration in Britain continues to be near the top of the agenda. With an opinion poll showing 77% of British people would support a cut in the rate of immigration, the parties in the Commons, not least the Coalition partners, clashed over border controls and exactly how much the UK could actually do to impact upon the number of people entering the country. Free from the need to respond to strong public opinion it fell to Lord Davies of Stamford to point to the recent University College of London study, which showed that EU migrants contributed more in tax and National Insurance than they cost the exchequer in public service provision.
One sign that the immigration rhetoric was only set to intensify was the appointment of The Express Political Correspondent Patrick O’Flynn to be UKIP’s Director of Communications. For a fast growing party with few checks on its elected members this might be quite an undertaking. None the less, it is a sign of the professionalisation of a party which has been prone to amateurish mistakes.
Rumours of a significant rise in the minimum wage led to the oft-outspoken Business Secretary Vince Cable to suggest the Conservatives were pinching Lib Dem policies. Meanwhile in the red corner there was a criticism of Labour’s use of the term “One Nation” from Simon Danczuk MP. Writing in PR Week, he suggested that his party was on the wrong track as he had “come to believe the public is actively turned off by the torturous repetition of political mantras”.
Many will see George Osborne’s announcement on Monday that “government is going to have to be permanently smaller and so is our welfare system” as a line to differentiate between, as he would see it, an economically credible Government and an opposition who would borrow at the first opportunity. However, there may be more to it. Rumours have persisted that the Treasury and Department for Work and Pensions do not see eye to eye. For much of this parliament Iain Duncan Smith has had popular support for reducing the cost and bureaucracy of the welfare system while Osborne has had his work cut out managing the economy. Now though with delays affecting the roll out of the universal credit and significant economic growth it is the Chancellor who is in a position of strength. Perhaps his announcement was a friendly shot across the bows of his colleague.
If easing of immigration in the EU is a big topic, this Christmas emigration became a little bit harder. This week the Transport Select Committee heard from Gatwick and EasyJet on the problems suffered from the delays at the airport. The airline’s Jason Holt referenced addressing a crowd of delayed passengers which reached “biblical proportions” and noted that police manned that luggage retrieval for fear of a public order incident.
Not for the first time airports equated to political baggage.
Nick Webb
Associate Director, Meeting Place Communications