Labour’s second term approach to immigration and asylum must learn the lessons of the first. The Government allowed the asylum and immigration debate to be hijacked and attempted to formulate policy in a bid to satisfy the likes of Ann Widdecome. By allowing refugees and asylum seekers to become political footballs the Government created the conditions for one of the most cynical displays of political opportunism in recent times. The distasteful spectacle of William Hague and the Tories preying on fears fuelled by the reporting of the right-wing press was sickening and it must not be allowed to happen again.
As a society, we have an obligation to provide security to the persecuted and oppressed. We in the Labour Party believe this is part of what Tony Blair called our ‘irreducible core’. Left or right, progressive or traditionalist, what distinguishes us from the Tories is the fundamental belief that everyone has a right to decency and respect. The rights of asylum seekers and refugees oblige us to grant them the decency and respect which everyone deserves.
We fulfil that obligation through the resources of the state. Job seekers and asylum seekers alike have basic needs and should be afforded civil and public protection. But as well as access to that societal safety net, they also have the right to fairness and justice. All of these rights have come under the microscope, but they have not been considered through a moderate debate.
Asylum seekers have been alienated, stigmatised and segregated within British society. They are required by law to live in designated areas and can be subject to house and area curfew. They are not allowed to leave their designated home or curfew area for more than seven days. These restrictions have encouraged negative reactions from local communities and have added to the difficulty of integrating them into a foreign culture.
The voucher system bring asylum seekers into sharp contrast with others. You stand in a supermarket queue and, while others pay cash, you have vouchers. It is a grotesque system and I look forward to its end following the current review.
Yet, asylum seekers are now being asked to pay for the right of appeal via a charge on the review of their cases. It seems we still have some more reforming to be done before we get to the second term.
Above all, we must ensure that we regain control of the culture underpinning the debate. What is paramount is that the Tories’ attempt to stamp their ‘Keep the Pound’ campaign on the next election does not open the floodgates to the kind of debate on asylum and immigration which we saw after the last election.
On this issue, above all others, it is crucial that, in the second term and beyond, the party never forgets its irreducible core. Crucial, too, that we resist the temptation to fight for every Daily Mail headline and crucial that we do not use Ann Widdecome as our policy benchmark. On this issue, we must accept that there are some voters whose support we will never gain and some whose support we should, frankly, never want.