News today suggests that Labour members of parliament have been warned against talking about immigration while campaigning. For many this does not come as a huge surprise, as the Labour party has often struggled with how it should talk about immigration, or whether it should talk about it at all. In British Future’s recent report, How to Talk about Immigration, we highlight the problems the Labour party faces in this debate and the traps the party might fall into in the run-up to an election where immigration is likely to play a significant role.
Mainstream politicians of any stripe are mistaken if they believe that they can become popular on immigration simply by saying what they think the public wants to hear. That strategy has been tried and found wanting: public trust has continued to fall, and voters are decreasingly likely to believe eyecatching slogans that generate headlines but do not seem to lead to change. That leads to the charge not just of out-of-touch politicians, but of inauthenticity too. So each of the political parties needs to come up with its own voice and its own contribution to how Britain can manage migration, pursuing its political principles and agenda in a way that might take the public with it.
The Labour party has struggled most with how to talk about immigration, having been in charge as migration rose while trust in its handling fell sharply. Most people felt that Labour was too slow to respond to concerns about the pace and pressures of migration, and too quick to dismiss concerns as prejudiced. However, when Labour leaders have sought to respond with tough soundbites like ‘British jobs for British workers’ the Labour party has sounded inauthentic, risking becoming still more mistrusted.
The leaked documents that say MPs were instructed to ‘move the conversation on’ if voters expressed concerns over border controls is perhaps the most damning finding in this respect, as it highlights not just a distinct unease with the topic, but an unwillingness to listen to and engage the public despite Ed Miliband rolling out several new immigration policies over the last few months.
Labour is a poor substitute for a populist anti-immigration party, but the centre-left party does sound more authentic on immigration when it voices the social democratic reasons to address the pressures of migration, such as by addressing exploitation in the workplace, and being vigilant about impacts on wage inequalities, or discrimination. At the same time, Labour would naturally want to promote the positive contribution of migrants to the NHS, and to job creation in the economy, and for universities and science. The argument that migrants learning English is important for the communities they join, and good for migrants themselves, rings true from Labour voices too.
Labour is considerably more comfortable engaging with the policy dilemmas of managing migration than finding its voice in the public conversation. It is seeking to develop a pragmatic policy agenda, acknowledging pressures and benefits, and proposing a nuanced approach to the different migration flows. But Labour voices also need to recognise why a tendency to jump straight to a policy response can be too narrow. An understanding of migration pressures as only reflecting misplaced concerns about jobs, housing and public services can lead to an instinct to try to ‘change the subject’, as quickly as possible. Policies in these areas can help to address migration pressures, but Labour voices need to learn to be much more comfortable talking about how people feel about rapid social and cultural change, and to acknowledge how and when that change can feel unsettling, while remaining confident of its ability to challenge prejudice, to tackle discrimination and promote fairness for all groups. The importance of cultural identity in the migration and European Union debates – in particular the recognition of Englishness – is still missed by too many Labour voices.
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Matthew Rhodes is is director of strategy and relationships at British Future. He tweets @MatthewRhodes
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