Ed Balls’ choreographed apologies earlier today included the acknowledgment that
“we should have adopted tougher controls on migration from Eastern Europe”. He first adopted this stance during last year’s leadership election, when he offered an undeliverable but popular objective to court
the ‘Gillian Duffy tendency’, who had turned away from New Labour.
What began as classic opposition politics is now the party line, with Ed Miliband telling delegates yesterday, “We got it wrong in a number of respects including understating the level of immigration from Poland, which had a big effect on people in Britain.” And there are stories in today’s Mail and the Express about the deleterious effects of unfettered immigration from Romania and Bulgaria under the last government, indicating that this remains a pressing issue.
Immigration is, of course, a tricky subject for the progressive, metropolitan party. But the European Union is the matter at hand here because of its provisions enabling the free movement of labour across borders, so this is more a matter of diplomatic administration rather than xenophobia.
Get Britain's best politics newsletters
Register to get The Spectator's insight and opinion straight to your inbox. You can then read two free articles each week.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just £1 a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just £1 a monthAlready a subscriber? Log in