Labour's Abbott to Announce Party Would Scrap Migration Targets

Labour’s Diane Abbott is to use a speech today to confirm that under a Jeremy Corbyn government there wouldn’t be any targets to cut migration by, with Abbott set to describe the popular Conservative push for a ‘tens of thousands’ net per year target as “meaningless and arbitrary targets”.

????????United Kingdom: 'Labour's Abbott to announce party would scrap migration targets'https://t.co/C7fNR3H7vx — Defend Europa (@DefendEvropa) September 13, 2018

She’s expected to lay into the popular pledge to slash migration as having “damaged the economy” and is expected to say: “As we learnt in the Windrush scandal, if you have numerical targets for deportation, you end up deporting your own citizens. Or, you can have numerical targets for visas, and you end up excluding doctors, nurses, engineers and others.

“This is not a real target at all. It is fake. It was plucked out of the air, without any evidence. It has never been met. The failure to meet it is blamed on others.

“This is despite the fact that migration from the Commonwealth and elsewhere outside the EU is within the government’s control. Yet Ministers and the Prime Minister in particular are wedded to this policy announcement and never tire of repeating it.”

Back in the real world, British workers have had enough. Only 15% of voters are against a ‘tens of thousands’ net migration pledge and 70% of people want to see a reduction in levels of migration.

As ever, when it comes to border policy Labour are living in la la land. The Conservatives should now drive home that they are the party ready, willing and able to deliver a reduction in numbers. That is the mainstream view in Britain.