22/11/2019
There are many 'hot topics' that we should consider when looking at who to vote for in the 2019 general election. Immigration is obviously a key one; it is something that drove a significant number of people to vote to leave the EU, even though most of the migrants coming to the UK come from outside of the EU - and always have done.
So, where do the various political parties stand n immigration?
The Tory Party has seen a swing to the right in recent years, with many moderate Conservatives either leaving due to the way the party has moved, or being ousted for daring to stand up for what is right.
The Conservative approach to immigration can be summarised as follows:
reduce overall immigration to the UK after Brexit;
introduce an Australian-style points-based system, which treats all migrants equally regardless of where they come from;
give EU citizens until December 2020 to apply for settled status, with freedom of movement ending in January 2021;
EU citizens to wait five years before accessing benefits and to pay an NHS surcharge - like other migrants; and
bring in an 'NHS visa' that would make it easier for doctors and nurses from around the world to work in the UK.
The problem with all of this is that immigrants to the UK are significant net contributors to the exchequer. Immigration benefits us financially too quite a significant level.
Moreover, we need the immigrants to perform vital roles in our society. Our hospitals are reliant on nurses and doctors from overseas to keep things running. There are some who claim that immigrants are causing a strain on the NHS. However, this could not be further from the truth. Immigrants underuse services in the UK. When you come across an immigrant in a hospital or other medical facility, they will almost certainly be there delivering services; not receiving them.
Whilst the Conservatives have moved further right in recent years, the Labour Party have moved significantly further left. Rather than deal with the issues within the party, such as antisemitism, the Labour leader has clearly struck out on building a close knit team of Momentum friendly politicians and pushing out more moderate Labour MPs. Labour too have seen defections of members who are disillusioned with Corbyn's Labour and they have also suspended members who have failed to support Corbyn.
Labour's approach to immigration can be summarised as follows:
protect the rights of the three million EU citizens living in the UK;
no fixed cap on net migration - the difference between those arriving in the UK and those leaving;
an immigration system based on the needs of the economy and communities and a flexible work visa system;
compensation for victims of the Windrush immigration scandal; and
an end to indefinite detention, review alternatives to detention centres, and close Yarl's Wood and Brook House centres.
On the face of it, there is nothing untoward in the Labour immigration policy. However, the failure of the Labour leader to confirm whether the party would campaign for or against Brexit in the lead up to a second referendum leaves us unable to know what their real position is. Corbyn is well known to be anti-EU and his lack of engagement in the original referendum campaign was certainly part of the reason that 52% of those who voted put a cross against the Leave box.
It is unclear whether it is his own views on the EU that have dissuaded Corbyn from making a clear statement on his position, or if it is the knowledge that an overwhelming number of Labour voters chose to side with leaving the largest trading block in the world.
Is it the realisation that many lifelong Labour voters are considering voting for the Conservatives or the Brexit Party that has led to Labour's inability to present a coherent position on a political issue that has the potential to impact the UK in a significant manner for generations to come?
The Liberal Democrats have stuck to their centrist position, whilst the other two main parties have moved away from the middle ground. This has seen them attract new MPs from both Labour and the Conservatives, although not all MPs who have left their previous parties have joined the LibDems.
The LibDems are obviously very committed to staying in the EU and their immigration policy would largely be dominated by the overturning of Article 50. They have also indicated aims to:
create a new two-year visa for students to work after graduation;
remove the minimum income requirement for spouse and partner visas;
give asylum seekers the right to work three months after they have applied;
end indefinite immigration detention by introducing a 28-day limit; and
resettle 10,000 unaccompanied refugee children in the UK over the next 10 years and expand family reunion rights.
The Independent Group for Change has just three prospective parliamentary candidates standing for election on 12th December. It has to be said that, even if all three were to win their seats, they are unlikely to have significant influence on future government policy.
Their immigration policy includes plans to:
support free movement of people across Europe as with current membership of the EU;
encourage foreign students to come to the UK;
introduce an e-identity system linked to National Insurance numbers to measure and enforce fair immigration rules; and
establish a migration impact fund to give support to areas experiencing sharp population changes.
On Friday 22nd November, Nigel Farage launched his party's priorities for the general election, although they are not calling it a manifesto. On the subject of immigration, Farage has said:
"We would very much want to get immigration numbers down to what for 60 years were very acceptable and very workable post-war levels. Yes, I'm talking around about 50,000 people a year."
Mr Farage added that work permits would give 'flexibility' to the system, as there was a difference between permanent settlement and allowing workers to come for a 'time-limited period.'
As far as firm proposals are concerned, Farage and his merry band of xenophobes are spectacularly weak.
The Green Party are definitely pro-EU and are keen to have a second referendum.
Aside from this, their main policies on immigration include:
providing all migrants with access to legal advice, childcare and a subsistence allowance;
the reintroduction of legal aid;
scrapping NHS charges for migrants;
the end of minimum income rules for visas;
stopping the indefinite detention of all refugees and asylum seekers; and
suspending deportation flights and allowing refugees to work while they wait for a decision.
The Green Party are unlikely to suddenly win significant numbers of seats in this general election, but are cooperating with the Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru in order to increase their chances of increasing the number of 'Stop Brexit' candidates becoming MPs.
The original 'Brexit' party is still fielding candidates in some seats in the 2019 general election. There has been much made about the swing of the party towards even more extreme politics. They even employed Stephen Yaxley-Lennon as a consultant, making it clear that hate and xenophobia is their lifeblood.
UKIP have said they plan to:
reduce immigration to low, sustainable levels;
introduce an Australian-style points-based immigration system combined with time-limited work permits;
rebrand the UK Border Force as the Migration Control Department giving it the aim of overseeing all immigration and border control; and
require workers on permits and overseas students to possess private health insurance as a condition of entry to the UK (unless covered by a reciprocal medical treatment agreement).
When looking at the stance of the various parties on immigration, I would urge people to look beyond the misleading and xenophobic messages of some political parties and of the media organisations that seek to manipulate the electorate.
Don't let the billionaire newspaper owners, desperately keen to protect their power and their ability to avoid paying their fare share of the nations tax burden, to convince you that you will be better off without the protection of EU legislation and without the massive economic benefits of EU membership.
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