Labour 'shares' immigration concerns

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 12 Oktober 2014 | 19.12

12 October 2014 Last updated at 11:58
Harriet Harman

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Labour Deputy Leader Harriet Harman outlines the party's "new approach" to immigration

Labour shares public concerns about the "downsides" of immigration and is responding with a tougher approach. deputy leader Harriet Harman has said.

UKIP had "tapped into" fears but did not have solutions, she told the BBC.

Labour is reported to be considering requiring migrants to "earn the right" to claim state benefits and to speak a better level of English before working.

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson has said the UK should leave the EU unless it can get fundamental changes on immigration.

And Douglas Carswell, who became UKIP's first elected MP on Friday, said there needed to be "more discretion and common sense" built into the immigration system.

UKIP's victory in the Clacton by-election and its close second in Heywood and Middleton has increased the pressure on both David Cameron and Ed Miliband.

'No wobble'

Amid calls from one former Labour MP for Mr Miliband to stand down, Ms Harman told the BBC that there was "absolutely" no chance of a change at the top.

"We are not going to have a wobble or a leadership change," she told the Andrew Marr show.

The Observer reported that Labour is planning a series of announcements on immigration in the coming weeks amid calls for it to do more to address UKIP's challenge in the north of England.

Boris Johnson

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London Mayor Boris Johnson said the UK needs a "points-based system" akin to Australia and America to control immigration

In an article for the paper, Mr Miliband said the ability of new migrants to claim benefits must be based on the principles of "contribution, responsibility and fairness".

Labour has already adopted tougher rhetoric on immigration in recent times, backing an extension of the time EU migrants must be in the UK before claiming out-of-work benefits to six months.

Sources close to Mr Miliband told the newspaper that the announcements would go further than existing plans. Measures are expected to include language tests on migrants to ensure those applying for public sector jobs have a level of proficiency as a condition of being taken on.

Ms Harman acknowledged UKIP had exploited people's "disconnection" from the political process and "despair" about their future economic prospects, but insisted it did not have the answers.

'New approach'

Labour, she said, must talk more about immigration and demonstrate that it was not just listening but "shared" people's concerns about its impact on jobs, pay and public services.

As part of what she described as a "new approach", Ms Harman said Labour backed stopping serious criminals from entering the country and deporting any foreign citizen who commits a serious crime while in the UK, even those from other EU member states.

UKIP's first MP Douglas Carswell

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UKIP's first elected MP Douglas Carswell said the Tories run along a "defunct retail model"

"We are setting out very clear policies for dealing with the downsides of immigration," she said.

"If people want to claim contributory benefits, they should have been here long enough to pay into the system before they get out.

"If your children are abroad, you cannot claim child benefit when you are working here, and if a new country joins the EU, there should be transitional protections which cut into the free movement of labour."

"We need to much clearer about this, not just the benefits of being in Europe but tackling the problems that come with the free movement of labour."

Speaking to Dermot Murnaghan on Sky News, Business Secretary Chuka Umunna said people want a "firm but fair" system of immigration "based on proper controls".

'Different arrangement'

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said the UK government should go further and seek to qualify the right of migrants from existing EU members to come to the UK to work.

While London had benefited hugely from immigration, he said it was "reasonable" to toughen controls and a US or Australian-style points system was needed to know the numbers coming in.

As part of a future renegotiation of the UK's membership, he said the Conservatives should be prepared to walk away from the EU if it could not get the changes it wanted.

While he believed other EU states want the UK to remain, he told Andrew Marr that the UK had "nothing to fear" from leaving the EU.

"If we can continue to have access to European markets and if we can continue to be part of the great free trade zone, then there is a viable future for our country with a different arrangement."

Mr Johnson said there was "very little between" the Conservatives and UKIP on many subjects and urged those thinking of voting UKIP to back the party best placed to deliver on key changes.

But Mr Carswell suggested the Conservatives had a "defunct retail model" and its leadership was incapable of delivering on changes to make politicians more accountable.

He said he was confident that UKIP could win the Rochester and Strood by-election, caused by the defection of Conservative Mark Reckless, but downplayed polls suggesting his party could win scores of seats at the next election, saying he would not indulge in "bravado talk".

For the Lib Dems, Justice Minister Simon Hughes told Sky News it supported steps to "minimise" the negative impacts of immigration but believed the NHS and other public services had benefited.


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