Forum Topic

Labour conference approves motion to extend free movement

Are there any Labour party members out there who can give us voters some idea of the impact of the recent conference motion? In particular, can you quantify the impact on Hounslow borough in terms of expected demographic changes and the consequent changes in public service provisions needed.The motion:"Labour will include in the manifesto pledges to:Oppose the current Tory immigration legislation and any curbing of rights.Campaign for free movement, equality and rights for migrants.Reject any immigration system based on incomes, migrants’ utility to business, and number caps/targets.Close all detention centres.Ensure unconditional right to family reunion.Maintain and extend free movement rights.End “no recourse to public funds” policies.Scrap all Hostile Environment measures, use of landlords and public service providers as border guards, and restrictions on migrants’ NHS access.Actively challenge anti-immigrant narratives."https://labourlist.org/2019/09/labour-conference-approves-motion-to-extend-free-movement/

Andy Riley ● 2147d12 Comments

" leaving the EU will give the UK more control over immigration and does not imply a total halt" We don't need more control over immigration from the EU. It works perfectly with freedom of movement within the EU. We need EU citizens more than they need us.Where we need more immigration control is from the rest of the world where many don't come here to work and pay taxes. They come here to sponge. The UK is perfectly free to restrict immigration from non EU countries but we have chosen not to do so for 'political' reasons. Which is of course a nonsense!

Steve Taylor ● 2138d

Steve, leaving the EU will give the UK more control over immigration and does not imply a total halt, nor does it imply animosity. In London we live in a dynamic multicultural complex of communities which has evolved over many generations. This is not the case case elsewhere and here there is anxiety about the rate and numbers of immigration - understandably. I haven't seen an answer to my original post - can any Labour supporters quantify the volume of migrants should we loosen our border controls as per the conference motion?Steve, for you, is there a maximum rate and maximum number here?

Andy Riley ● 2138d

They had actually lived in London for years before work took the husband to Greece.The fact they they moved back to London surely says something about how others view the UK rather than the rather jaundiced, doom-laden view peddle by many.

N V Brooks ● 2139d

"I do not have any animosity towards people from the EU, nor do most people I know."Of course you don't but it an inherent culture now. The fact that the UK voted to stop EU citizens coming to live and work here is proof enough of the animosity our friends are feeling. The fact that our news media has reported nothing for 3 years except leaving the clutches of these terrible 'Europeans' speaks volumes. It is not even subliminal. It's open animosity.

Steve Taylor ● 2139d

Steve I really query your comment "the animosity towards EU citizens."  I do not have any animosity towards people from the EU, nor do most people I know.  Our bin men and the chaps on the recycling lorry are like the league of nations.  They do a nasty job with great cheerfulness and are mostly helpful and tidy.  Anyone visiting any sort of medical facility encounters a real mix of nationalities and most if not all are good at their jobs and cheerful too.  There are a few blank faced floor cleaners, shoving large brooms about the place, who are the exception - they are not enjoying their work.  As they're doing it anyhow,  why not try and make it a cheerful experience - 8 hours a day is a long time to be grumpy!  Being cheerful is catching.

Jennifer Selig ● 2139d

"I sat in a Greek Restaurant last night talking to a Romanian couple who had just moved to Ealing from Greece"They won't stay long if they are missing Greek food already and when they experience the animosity towards EU citizens.Our lovely Polish neighbours (across the road) have their house on the market now. They want to get out before the Pound crashes even further as our economy collapses.

Steve Taylor ● 2139d

I sat in a Greek Restaurant last night talking to a Romanian couple who had just moved to Ealing from Greece and a lovely Lithuanian and Swedish family who were moving - from Brentford to Ealing.Not everyone is leaving.

N V Brooks ● 2143d

We have already lost 5 EU neighbours (families) since the referendum result and at work I have one Portuguese colleague and one Slovakian colleague having serious thoughts about leaving. The Portuguese guy's girlfriend has already gone back to Portugal to seek a 'better life'. An Italian colleague is also having some turmoil because his Hungarian nanny has announced she is going back next month and he is struggling to find a replacement because the nanny agencies confirm that EU staff are leaving in droves.

Steve Taylor ● 2143d

I'm not so sure that 'all our EU friends (will) go home because they feel unwelcome and ostracised' after Brexit. I can't say that I know one person for whom this is the case and that includes a number of Germans and Poles, one Dutch, one French, a Slovakian, a Russian and a Lithuanian and I haven't really given that list much thought.The Dutch person has been granted permanent leave to stay - her own country doesn't allow dual citizenship. This is also true for a number of other European countries and some who only allow it between member states of the EU.

Anne England ● 2146d

After Brexit when all our EU friends go home because they feel unwelcome and ostracised, we will need to open our doors to third world countries to do all the work we don't want to do because we don't want to dirty our hands. We will have to make it as easy as possible for labourers to come in so Labour will promote free movement and free fast tracked citizenship to gain them more votes. Not rocket science. Labour have not benefited from EU citizens because those citizens have not been driven to take UK citizenship whilst they have had full Rights under their EU citizenship.

Steve Taylor ● 2146d

Indeed. I'm hoping to hear from Labour activists in Hounslow regarding their enthusiasm or otherwise for promoting the policy on the doorstep should it reach the manifesto.

Andy Riley ● 2146d

Sounds more like another nail in the Labour coffin, Andy.You probably have the best intentions,but spouting this sort of stuff will make it even harder for Labour to be elected.I would think that there are quite a few Labour mp's who would not go near anything like this kind of policy as their constituents,mostly those  outside the cossetted south east, would never support it imo.

Keith Iddon ● 2147d