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Yvette Cooper calls for national debate on immigration as she launches inquiry Yvette Cooper calls for national debate on immigration as she launches inquiry
(about 4 hours later)
Governments have failed for decades to build a national consensus about immigration because itwas, “too difficult to talk about”, according to Yvette Cooper – who is launching aparliamentary inquiry into the issue. Governments have failed for decades to build a national consensus about immigration because itwas, “too difficult to talk about”, according to Yvette Cooper – who is launching a parliamentary inquiry into the issue.
The home affairs select committee chair said Labour and Conservative governments had missed the opportunity to build public support for immigration, and she now hopes her committee will “have a debate about immigration around the country, which in truth we have never properly had”.The home affairs select committee chair said Labour and Conservative governments had missed the opportunity to build public support for immigration, and she now hopes her committee will “have a debate about immigration around the country, which in truth we have never properly had”.
It was Tony Blair’s administration that took the decision not to impose short-term transitional controls on migration when the accession countries joined the European Union in 2004 — and drastically underestimated the number of people from the new member states who would make Britain their home.It was Tony Blair’s administration that took the decision not to impose short-term transitional controls on migration when the accession countries joined the European Union in 2004 — and drastically underestimated the number of people from the new member states who would make Britain their home.
Cooper told the Guardian: “I wasn’t in the Home Office, or any of the key departments, but I think people thought the level would be much lower; and also saw it as part of a bigger debate about countries that had had nuclear weapons pointing at each other between east and western Europe needing to come together and be part of a new framework of working together.”Cooper told the Guardian: “I wasn’t in the Home Office, or any of the key departments, but I think people thought the level would be much lower; and also saw it as part of a bigger debate about countries that had had nuclear weapons pointing at each other between east and western Europe needing to come together and be part of a new framework of working together.”
Once that decision had been made, she said more should have been done to ensure the benefits of immigration were felt nationwide. “There are so many things you can look back on doing; there was getting the figures wrong in the first place; the need to look at the impact on the labour market, particularly on low-skilled employment; to look at the need for support, she said.Once that decision had been made, she said more should have been done to ensure the benefits of immigration were felt nationwide. “There are so many things you can look back on doing; there was getting the figures wrong in the first place; the need to look at the impact on the labour market, particularly on low-skilled employment; to look at the need for support, she said.
“We did have the migration impact fund that was introduced, and then was abandoned by the Conservative government; but again that was relatively small scale. There just wasn’t much debate about it; it was one of those things that people just thought was a bit too difficult to talk about.”“We did have the migration impact fund that was introduced, and then was abandoned by the Conservative government; but again that was relatively small scale. There just wasn’t much debate about it; it was one of those things that people just thought was a bit too difficult to talk about.”
Once the Conservatives were in power, she said Theresa May, who was home secretary from 2010 to her arrival at No 10 in July, had, “done nothing to try and build consent around immigration” – instead setting an unattainable target.Once the Conservatives were in power, she said Theresa May, who was home secretary from 2010 to her arrival at No 10 in July, had, “done nothing to try and build consent around immigration” – instead setting an unattainable target.
“There was never any attempt to engage with what people were concerned about, either to engage in order to persuade them, or in order to respond to concerns,” Cooper said. “It was never seen as an important part of the debate.“There was never any attempt to engage with what people were concerned about, either to engage in order to persuade them, or in order to respond to concerns,” Cooper said. “It was never seen as an important part of the debate.
“As a result, by the time [May] stopped being home secretary, public anxiety about immigration was much higher than when she started. I see that as being a massive failure.”“As a result, by the time [May] stopped being home secretary, public anxiety about immigration was much higher than when she started. I see that as being a massive failure.”
With Britain now leaving the EU’s single market under the prime minister’s Brexit plan, a new immigration system will need to be devised. May has rejected the idea, mooted during the referendum campaign, of an Australian-style points system but it is not clear what it will be replaced with.With Britain now leaving the EU’s single market under the prime minister’s Brexit plan, a new immigration system will need to be devised. May has rejected the idea, mooted during the referendum campaign, of an Australian-style points system but it is not clear what it will be replaced with.
Cooper, the MP for Pontefract and Castleford, warned that the public debate on the issue had only become more charged in the wake of last year’s referendum. She rejected the idea, mooted by Donald Trump at his White House press conference last week, that there were common threads between Brexit and the presidential election.Cooper, the MP for Pontefract and Castleford, warned that the public debate on the issue had only become more charged in the wake of last year’s referendum. She rejected the idea, mooted by Donald Trump at his White House press conference last week, that there were common threads between Brexit and the presidential election.
“I don’t think that we should equate Donald Trump and Brexit,” she said. “I think that it’s really important not to get sucked into doing that, because people did not vote for Nigel Farage. They voted in a referendum about EU institutions, for all kinds of reasons.”“I don’t think that we should equate Donald Trump and Brexit,” she said. “I think that it’s really important not to get sucked into doing that, because people did not vote for Nigel Farage. They voted in a referendum about EU institutions, for all kinds of reasons.”
Cooper accused the government of behaving in a “shameful and pandering” way to Trump, particularly after he signed the order for a travel ban on refugees on Holocaust Memorial Day, and she added that trying to avoid a divisive debate was why she was running an inquiry on hate crime alongside the one on immigration.Cooper accused the government of behaving in a “shameful and pandering” way to Trump, particularly after he signed the order for a travel ban on refugees on Holocaust Memorial Day, and she added that trying to avoid a divisive debate was why she was running an inquiry on hate crime alongside the one on immigration.
“Boris Johnson and Theresa May have said all sorts of things about the importance of Holocaust Memorial Day, and they just were not willing to speak out,” she said, arguing that failure to vocalise Britain’s opposition would leave the country’s Muslim community feeling isolated. “I think that was cowardly of them.“Boris Johnson and Theresa May have said all sorts of things about the importance of Holocaust Memorial Day, and they just were not willing to speak out,” she said, arguing that failure to vocalise Britain’s opposition would leave the country’s Muslim community feeling isolated. “I think that was cowardly of them.
“It’s possible that they have got themselves boxed in on desperately wanting a trade deal with the US; I think that is a big mistake for them.”“It’s possible that they have got themselves boxed in on desperately wanting a trade deal with the US; I think that is a big mistake for them.”
Cooper argued that she believed it would be better to stay inside Europe’s customs union, with high environmental and employment standards, rather than pursue a “potentially destructive trade negotiation with Donald Trump’s US administration”.Cooper argued that she believed it would be better to stay inside Europe’s customs union, with high environmental and employment standards, rather than pursue a “potentially destructive trade negotiation with Donald Trump’s US administration”.
“It was not the same as voting for someone who said during the campaign that he wanted to target Muslims and has done so since,” she said. “That is different, and I think if we treat the debate like that, we actually will get sucked into a much bigger division in this country that I don’t want to see happen.”“It was not the same as voting for someone who said during the campaign that he wanted to target Muslims and has done so since,” she said. “That is different, and I think if we treat the debate like that, we actually will get sucked into a much bigger division in this country that I don’t want to see happen.”