Brown urges 'united front' on immigration
Updated on 31 March 2010
Acknowledging that immigration is a concern for many voters, the prime minister warns political parties against "scaremongering" during the forthcoming election campaign.
In a speech on immigration in east London, the PM acknowledged it was "legitimate" for voters to express anxiety about the numbers of incomers and their impact on their public services and lifestyles, and said politicians must address these concerns.
But he said that net inward migration to the UK was in fact coming down and that no mainstream party was advocating shutting the country's doors to newcomers altogether.
In his third major speech on immigration since he became Prime Minister, Mr Brown for a united front against parties who wanted to end immigration.
With the British National Party clearly in mind, Mr Brown conceded that: "People have a right to talk about these issues and what they mean for them, and as politicians in that mainstream, in the centre ground of British politics, we have a duty to listen and engage with these big issues - because if we don't, people will listen to whoever does."
"I call on all those in the mainstream of our politics to stand together in the coming weeks and present a united front against those who don't value the diverse and outward looking Britain that we stand for; and who want to end immigration simply because they don't like migrants," he said
Mr Brown said the government's points-based system of assessing would-be immigrants would prevent unskilled migrants from outside the EU working in Britain.
He promised programmes to train local workers to meet specific skills shortages, saying occupations such as chefs and care workers would, in future years, be completely removed from the country's 'shortage list' of jobs.
Mr Brown criticised the Conservative policy of a 'cap' on immigration numbers, saying it would prove too inflexible and bad for business.
But the Conservatives said Mr Brown's speech offered "nothing new".
Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling said: "The public know that Labour have failed on immigration and there is nothing new here to change people's minds.
"Net migration is up threefold since Labour came to power. People can see how overstretched our public services are because of Gordon Brown's open-door policy."
Sir Andrew Green, chairman of the Migrationwatch pressure group, said: "The Government are clearly rattled by their appalling record. Immigration on their watch has now reached three million and illegal immigration could be approaching another million.
"It seems to have taken them 13 years to acknowledge that this is a very serious issue for the public, yet they are still in denial about the prospect of a population of 70 million in 20 years' time, of which nearly 70% will be due to immigration," he said.
