Migration and a legacy of deceit

By DAILY MAIL COMMENT
Updated:

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair said in his 1997 manifesto Britain had 'firm control' over immigration

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair said in his 1997 manifesto Britain had 'firm control' over immigration

For public consumption, the incoming Labour Government's line could hardly have been clearer.

'Every country must have firm control over immigration,' said Tony Blair's 1997 manifesto, 'and Britain is no exception.'

Behind the scenes, however, a very different strategy was taking shape.

An explosive draft report by the Cabinet Office, written in 2000, exposes the new Government's deliberate policy of throwing open our borders.

Crucially, this was not, as it was sold to voters, simply to fill the skills gaps opening up in our then-booming economy.

As the hitherto secret report confirms, the calculated aim was also to transform Britain into a fully multicultural society.

In the blunt words of a loose-tongued Labour adviser who worked on the report, it was to 'rub the Right's nose in diversity and render their arguments out of date'.

Of course, some will argue that multiculturalism is indeed a worthy end in itself - although you won't often hear that said in places such as Reading, where 127 languages are spoken in schools.

But in a democracy, don't ministers have a duty to tell us what they are up to and why - and to let our votes be the judges?

Of all Labour's legacies, the effects of ten years of unrestricted immigration will surely be the most lasting.

How contemptibly typical that, like the Iraq war, it was foisted upon us by deceit. 

A break for marriage

The figures are nothing less than startling.

Married couples on modest incomes in Britain, finds the charity CARE, pay a third more in tax than the average in the developed world.

While the proportion of income paid by single people has remained unchanged over the past 40 years, that paid by single-earner married couples has doubled.

Couples who wed pay a third more tax than average in the developed world

Couples who wed pay a third more tax than average in the developed world

This is economic and social madness. Every study agrees that marriage is by far the surest cement for keeping families together.

And through the ages, the family has proved by far the most compassionate and cost-effective means of delivering welfare to young and old.

   

More from Daily Mail Comment...


 

To his very great credit, David Cameron has grasped these eternal truths, while Labour continues to believe that our cripplingly expensive welfare state can adequately fill the vacuum left by the progressive destruction of the family.

This is one clear, philosophical difference between the parties. These shocking figures underline the urgent need for tax breaks for marriage.

Mr Cameron deserves all the support he can get on this vital issue.

Voice from the pulpit

The language is as convoluted as ever. But if the Mail's translation is correct, Dr Rowan Williams is at last speaking as an Archbishop of Canterbury should.

Offering guidance on arguably the most important issue facing us, he says that granting a legal right to die is a 'moral mistake', which crosses a boundary into 'very dangerous' territory.

Meanwhile, he echoes the Pope in attacking Harriet Harman's Equality Bill, which would force churches to employ those who openly defy their teaching.

The Mail welcomes Dr Williams's comments - belated though they may be.

We look forward to more of the same - with less navel-gazing about women bishops.

High risk strategy?

Clearly, better qualified military strategists than the Mail have given profound thought to their plans for the latest offensive in Afghanistan.

One question: can it really be wise to give the enemy detailed warnings of how, where and when our troops will attack?