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  1. Politics
10 February 2010

Cameron panders to the right in the Express

Tory leader maintains tougher line on crime and immigration.

By George Eaton

The interview with David Cameron in today’s Express offers more evidence of his recent swerve to the right. Any suspicion that Cameron “misspoke” when he claimed that burglars “leave their human rights outside” is dissipated by his repetition of the phrase.

He tells the paper:

If someone comes into it [my house], that’s it, they literally leave their rights at the door. That’s how I feel about it and I think the law should reflect it.

Someone really should ask the Tory leader whether he accepts the logical conclusion: that householders can freely murder or torture burglars.

Elsewhere, Cameron repeats his populist promise to limit immigration to “tens of thousands” a year, a level not seen since 1992. Given that a cap on immigration would have to exclude EU migrants, British citizens who return from abroad and the 39,000 people a year who come to the UK on spousal visas, it’s foolish for Cameron to suggest that this pledge is at all feasible.

With the Tory leader harshening his rhetoric on crime and immigration, one wonders: has he been taking lessons from his old boss Michael Howard?

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