COMMENT As an election approaches, the airwaves are full of politicians throwing themselves on any passing bandwagon. For most of this year it has been the evil of bankers and their enormous bonuses. Now it is immigration. Neither are popular when people are taking pay cuts and losing their jobs. So, whatever the reality, politicians on all sides strive to show how in tune they are by sounding tough.
This week, Gordon Brown rightly praised recent waves of immigrants for helping to make Britain “one of the most dynamic countries in modern history” – and then went on to outline a raft of barriers, controls and exclusions designed to prevent any future dynamic incomers coming in.
