US Edition We must be mad, literally mad. Last week it was forced repatriation. At the beginning of the week it was reclassification of British citizens as “hidden migrants”. And as the weekends we have David Cameron threatening to leave the EU if Angela Merkel won’t let him strip tax credits from Polish plumbers.
Forty-six years ago, just as today, a Conservative politician walked to a lectern in a small west Midlands town, and began to deliver a speech on immigration. As today, he spoke about public concern over the influx of migrants: 50,000 a year, he claimed. As today, he detailed the pressures this migration was placing on public services. “Wives unable to obtain hospital beds in childbirth, their children unable to obtain school places, their homes and neighbourhoods changed beyond recognition.” As today, he explained how politicians had to give voice to these concerns. “To see, and not to speak, would be the great betrayal,” he said.
Cameron, to his credit, made no mention of “rivers of blood” in his own speech. There were no references to migrants holding “the whip hand” over the indigenous population. Indeed, he began by speaking warmly and positively of the contribution migration had made to the UK.
But then Cameron is not Enoch Powell. He is a moderate, modern, one-nation Conservative. And when it is the moderate, modern, one-nation politicians who are playing the anti-immigration card, then something has gone wrong. Badly, badly wrong.
When Powell delivered his high-profile demand for a crack down on immigration, he was shadow secretary of state for defence. Today’s high-profile demand for a crack down on immigration was announced by the Prime Minister of the country. When Powell’s words became public, four members of Edward Heath’s shadow cabinet threatened to resign if he wasn’t sacked. Today, members of the cabinet and the Tory backbenches are roaming the airwaves, giving the Prime Minister’s speech their stamp of approval. Yes, the odd dissenting voice will be raised, but primarily from those worried his words were insufficiently robust.
When Powell delivered his speech, his political opponents pounced. Liberal part leader Jeremy Thorpe said there was a prima facie case for bringing Powell up on charges of incitement. This morning, Ed Miliband chose to taunt Cameron for not being tough enough on immigration, and failing to meet his net migration target.
Powell’s words were instantly condemned by the national media. The Times described it as “an evil speech”. In contrast, today’s burst of anti-immigration rhetoric has actually been praised for its moderation. According to The Guardian, “What was remarkable about David Cameron’s speech was what was not in it. Over the last few weeks there have been speculation about Cameron demanding quotas for EU migrants, or perhaps the use of the emergency brake procedure to keep EU migrants out (an idea Sir John Major proposed) but, from what he said today, there was not the slightest hint that these ideas have even been on the agenda. The speech was measured, rather than confrontational.”
There was also one other major difference between the two addressees. When Powell spoke, he did so with conviction. He genuinely believed immigration would destroy the fabric of British society.
Cameron didn’t believe a word of what he was saying today. You could see it in his eyes.
The Prime Minister does not think immigration is creating significant economic or social problems. He thinks it is creating a political problem. He is well aware that the recent increase in migration has coincided with a rise in GDP and a sustained fall in unemployment. Indeed, he knows immigration is necessary to embed the economic recovery.
So solely to beat off the challenge from Nigel Farage – a man who the polls indicate cannot even command the support of more than 29 per cent of the voters of Thanet – the anti-immigration arms race has intensified. The proposed removal of migrant benefits, even though migrants are less likely to claim benefits that the indigenous population. The proposed axing of in-work benefits for those who are working hard and contributing. And withdrawal from the EU if we don’t get our way.
No, this not Rivers of Blood 2014. But is that what it will take before someone finally says “enough”? Only when Cameron fully evokes chilling images of a foaming River Tiber will people acknowledge, “OK, this debate is getting out of hand now”?
Because talk of enforced repatriation hasn’t done the job. Nor talk of hidden migrants. Or sinister foreign voices on our trains. Or Romanian criminals moving next door. Or totally spurious and fantastical immigration targets.
It seems no one is prepared to call a halt to the anti-immigration arms race. But we can’t afford to wait for the ghost of Enoch Powell to return before they do.