The Hindu : Opinion / Editorials : An eye-opening British election

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Monday, Apr 25, 2005

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An eye-opening British election

Prime Minister Tony Blair and the British Labour Party are blessed in having an opposition party whose basic programme and election campaign have had the effect of sending voters scurrying back to them. When Mr. Blair announced the May 5 parliamentary elections, most opinion polls showed Labour with a narrow lead over the Conservatives. The ruling party's ratings had slumped essentially because traditional Labour voters, disillusioned with Blairite policies, were turning to others, such as the Liberal Democrats. But for a leader who has evoked anger, hatred, and ridicule even within his own party for slavishly pitching his tent alongside the Bush administration's for the invasion of Iraq, Prime Minister Blair has made a swift comeback in the past three weeks. The polls now predict that Labour will sweep back to power, which will mean an unprecedented hat trick for the party. For this, Mr. Blair can thank the single-minded Tory focus on the issue of immigration and asylum. Michael Howard's shrill refrain calling for a ceiling on the number of immigrants and refugees allowed into Britain every year has found some resonance with voters. Alarmed that the Tory campaign might make inroads into a receptive electorate and not wanting to split the anti-Conservatives vote, once rebellious Labour supporters seem to have rallied behind the party again, despite their disagreement with Mr. Blair's foreign policy. Having supported the invasion of Iraq, the Tories evidently picked immigration as the one issue on which Labour would not be able to match its rhetoric. But Mr. Blair, an ardent promoter of multicultural, "cool Britannia", is trying to do exactly that. He has accused Mr. Howard of exploiting an emotive issue and playing up people's fears, but in the same breath, acknowledged concerns over immigration. The Labour Party has come out with its own set of dubious measures: a points system, such as the one in Australia, for economic migrants; and a tagging system to keep track of asylum seekers while their applications are processed.

The debate, with its clearly racist overtones, is an eye-opener. At least relatively speaking, Britain has enjoyed in recent times the image of a cosmopolitan and tolerant nation. It has its share of xenophobes, but even in the intolerant post-9/11 climate, it has been more welcoming of outsiders than any other country in Europe. Has this changed? This is the first election in which immigration is reported to be the pre-eminent issue before voters. Leaders of British industry have pointed out that fears about immigration are exaggerated and misplaced, and that far from being a drain on the country's resources, immigrants provide a steady supply of skilled workers. There are many altruistic reasons for allowing people to move freely across borders but there can be no more effective argument against tightening the immigration regime than that it can cripple the host country's industry.

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