Before left -wing MPs harp on about the 'benefits' of mass immigration...condider this:

HOW HAS MASS IMMIGRATION BENEFITTED THE WHITE WORKING CLASSES??

The continual Labour support for mass immigration is one reason why I will never vote for this party again!

" The public will look to Labour, and we will need to be ready to set out our vision for the future management of migration and the consequences of migration."

No the public will NOT look to labour , they had an open door policy and lied about it , nearly half of people in our capital city were not even born in the UK.
That 4 million RECENT immigrants just in london, go to any high street and there is no community cohesion with english clearly not spoken by the many immigrants who have settled.

Its to late , to many parts of our country dont feel English at all at the expense of the indegenous people.
This will only stoke problems in the future , we have regular marches by the EDL , increased ghettos , less civic participation, and without question we would not have had these riots before mass immigration. You just have to look where how it started.
Remember we would have a communial race war if the muslim man who's sons were killed asked for revenge!

There is an underlining principle that the tabloids seem not to understand, which is simply that trying to stifle competition of labour (ie. migrants) does nothing to benefit the country in the long run. We can already see that in the rising BRIC nations, migration is accepted, with knowledge that migration brings in talent and simultaneously tends to improve the economy through job creation and growth.

But I imagine that the real 'problem' is really more focused within communities and civic participation, particularly in places with a high population of the working classes, and here I imagine more institutions are needed to increase civic participation, looking toward multicultural models that exist in Canada, Singapore, Malaysia etc. The problem of course, is that the English have always tended to be very introverted, very individualist and very short term, which is why it will be difficult for any party, not just Labour, to 'solve' the immigration problem while pandering to the tabloid press and the reactionary classes who seem to believe that a return to the 1950's is the best solution.

wow, what an amazingly written piece. It strikes me as highly balanced and encouraging, nearly 'a voice of truth' at the risk of sounding painfully cheesy

@Lady J

"There is nothing like an article on immigration to bring out the racists."

Well it's people like you who fuel racism and are in fact responsible for it. You have nothing constructive to say in this debate rather than the tired old Marxist blanket condemnation of anyone even "discussing" immigration as racist.

It's people like you who are responsible for the pitiful state of the left in the UK today. You're no doubt someone who is benefiting under Cameron and who lives in an immigrant free area and therefore unaffected.

It's just as well because if Cameron does get on top of immigration he will rightly be able to exploit the fact and take enough working class voters with him to keep Labour out of office for a generation.

You can thank yourself for that, and people like you with your neo-fascist disdain for working class people, and contempt for them having any kind of reasonable debate amongst themselves about serious issues. You're pathetic.

We certainly get the extremes from both sides of the arguement when this subject is raised. No one ever brings up the fact that we are full as a country.

When the world is competing for food supplies and people are going without food in poorer countries, we are an ever growing population.

We couldn't feed ourselves in WW2 and had to have rationing with a population of 48 million, now our population is 70 million and rising.

England is now in 6th place of the most densely populated countries and the Uk as a whole is in 17th, heaven help future generations, our hospitals and schools are creaking, our transport system falling to pieces and vast numbers can't find housing.

Time for all political parties to get their acts together, some hope!

Bertie: "a secret plot was hatched (google 'Andrew Neather')to abolish such immigration controls as existed altogether"

Whether or not there was a secret plot (so secret it's on Google?), the reality is that immigration controls got far tougher over the last 10 years or so. See my earlier post - I can't even live with my American partner without a large amount of hassle and expense. Thanks to the attitudes of people like you. Whilst people whinge about the drain of immigrants, the state is happy to take thousands of pounds of our money just for the "right" to get married, or to live together, as well as our taxes.

Though the odd thing is, I also hate Labour, for the complete opposite reason.

well said A cole

One good thing about migrants is they have shown up the problems we have with our own indigenous workforce.

In my business i come into contact with many foreign people particluarly from Eastern Europe who are not used to a system of welfare in their country & dont even consider not getting a job, they tend not to drink excessively or take drugs and generally get up every day and look for work from 9-5 till they inevitably get a job, most within a week or three at most.

I actually started believing the claims that 'there are no jobs' even during the boom years of 2000-2008, but have since learned there is a little more to the arguement regarding our army of dole moles then meets the eye. Welfare seems to create a serious dependency problem that is passed through the generations.
Labour would need to come up with some credible strategies to combat fecklessness as well as immigration, as its just as serious a bugbear with a lot of people in this country.

I dont see exactly what the major 'enrichment' is from mass immigration, increased social tension, overcrowding, pollution, and a squeeze on wages, ahh but the strategists of Labour believe immigrants will vote for Labour by majority..

Things have got massively harder for non-EU people to come to the UK over the last 10 years. Restricting the numbers of skilled workers, requiring extortionate visa fees, and introducing pathetic trivia tests that most UK citizens can't pass. The problem is that the Daily Mail readers see the immigration from within the EU, whine about that - but then the Government responds by making it even harder for non-EU people. And now to hear that Labour "got it wrong", because they weren't harsh enough! I despair.

Even for two people getting married - for all the talk of supporting families, couples have no right to live together, and must pay extortionate fees, jump through hoops, just for the privilege of living together. As a British citizen, where is my right to live with my partner? We're also told how we mustn't be a burden on the state - yet the state is happy to take our taxes, and thousands of pounds of our money in red tape fees. Personally I'd rather my taxes don't support xenophobic Daily Mail readers - can I have my taxes back, please?

I just wish that Dromey - and his appalling wife - would go to Hell, or the nearest grammar school.

There is nothing like an article on immigration to bring out the racists.

what about the uncounted illegal immigrants whom just disappear into our society?

The lack of indigenious citizens who do not want to take up jobs they deem as beneath them that the immigrants take up?

A benefits system that easy to exploit which sends out a message that the UK is the land of opportunity?

There are so many things wrong with contribute to the issue that requires a massive reform of not only immigration policy other facets like welfare.

I'm afraid the Labour party yet again have no policies on paper, reject all forms of reform that are proposed. They are not credible.

Reforms will hurt but they are necessary or else we might as well have another Labour government for 5 years.

@Dave C. French policy = 'Hands up' !

Lady J 26 September 2011 at 00:40 "There is nothing like an article on immigration to bring out the racists."

indeed! There is nothing like an article on immigration to bring out the hand wringing apologists, yelling "racist" at any discussion regarding immigration. People who live in a bubble constantly using stupid words like enrichment and vibrant to try to positively describe muslim ghettos and no-go areas within our cities. The sorts of people who think that areas where no one can speak English are richly diverse. Get out into the real world and have the debate, instead of hiding behind the word racist to stifle discussion in a matter where you have no argument.