From the last paragraph of the Preamble to our Constitution:

Our responsibility for justice and liberty cannot be confined by national boundaries; we are committed to fight poverty, oppression, hunger, ignorance, disease and aggression wherever they occur and to promote the free movement of ideas, people, goods and services. Setting aside national sovereignty when necessary, we will work with other countries towards an equitable and peaceful international order and a durable system of common security.

That’s a brilliant, positive statement of who we are and what we are against. It’s a very clear statement in favour of free movement of people.

Now have a look at the second paragraph of our new policy paper on immigration to be debated in Brighton:

However, migration today is not the peaceful, equitable, ordered guarantor of durable security that our constitution envisages. Fuelled by the failure of governments to spread economic prosperity widely, some people feel that their concerns about employment, housing, and social and welfare resources are somehow linked to immigration. There has been an alarming rise in hostility to all immigrants, including some British people settled here for a generation or more.

Some people also believe that the earth is flat. We don’t supply them with ropes in case they fall off the edge. We prove to them that they are wrong. The way to stop hostility to immigrants is to challenge the poisonous drip-feeding from the right wing tabloid press and right wing politicians, to to pander to it, don’t you think?

The statement in just the second paragraph sets an unfortunate tone which legitimises prejudice which is not borne out by evidence. I thought we were about evidence-based policy. Everything we know about immigration suggests that it is beneficial to our nation. We are already finding out what happens when we chase immigrants away – a huge strain on our NHS because one in ten nursing posts are unfilled.

Conference will also debate a motion which seeks to provide justice for the Windrush Generation whose stories came to light earlier this year. This motion has taken the opposite approach to the half-hearted timidity of the Migration paper. Its authors go for it. The motion is full of the sort of indignation we should feel on behalf of the people who have been wronged and contains excellent suggestions for remedy.

Conference deplores: 1 The official ‘hostile environment’ immigration policy of the Conservative Government applied to the Windrush generation, embedding institutional racism at the Home Office, which has resulted in mass breaches by the UK Government of the British Nationality Act 1948 and the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 and which has led to the deportation of retirement-age citizens with rights to live in the UK under the Immigration Act 1971. 2 The government’s pursuit of exemptions for the Home Office from transparency legislation such as GDPR (EU) 2016/679 and the UK Freedom of Information Act 2000, in order to conceal the extent of harm resultant from the ‘hostile environment’ policy. The policy of forcing the NHS, private landlords and the DVLA to act as quasi immigration police, resultant from the Home Office’s inability to manage immigration effectively. 3 The consequent application of aggregate immigration and deportation targets – with staff bonuses for deportations – which, encourage Home Office officials and contractors to make decisions contrary to domestic and international law, breaching UK regulations and published official guidance; even in cases where it was known that claims to reside were valid. Conference notes: 1 The failure of the Home Office to establish and implement a rules-based legal, fair and just immigration system; leading to a targets-driven approach and tabloid-focused gimmicks like ‘go home vans’. 2 The negative effects of the government’s ‘hostile environment’ immigration policies on the economy and public services, increasing the shortage of technical skills in industry and the shortage of skills in the NHS. Conference believes that: 1 The programme of mass deportation of the Windrush generation, and the destruction of relevant data to facilitate the programme, arose because the individuals, well established in British society, were the more easily located and victimised by administrators and contractors. 2 The blame for the recent shameful Home Office approach to the Windrush generation lies in the policy established by the Home Secretary in office from 12th May 2010 to July 13th 2016. Conference calls for: 1 A public enquiry into immigration policy and practice of the UK government 1997–2018 with powers to compel the Home Office, Cabinet Office and other UK institutions to reveal all relevant information leading to the repeal of the offending legislation. Righting wrongs perpetrated by the Home Office in each individual case, including the full restoration of rights to indefinite leave to remain, access to housing, healthcare, welfare, and employment, plus the return of those wrongly deported, and a new task force to apply justice, with access to legal aid for victims where needed; to include the release of such individuals currently wrongly detained and wrongly facing deportation. 2 The establishment of a system of compensation for all the victims of the Home Office’s unjust policies in line with recommendations of Ministry of Justice appointee Martin Forde QC.

Our immigration policy would be enhanced by the people who put this motion together.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings