Cut poison out of migration debate

Later on, I had to cycle through a throng of these new immigrants as I entered the city walls. Or maybe they were Bulgarian beggars; who can tell? Another group was hanging round outside the office when I scooted up.

It is possible some people might at this point be muttering in agreement. Well, anything is possible. But not what I just wrote, because I made it up. My reason for doing so is to point up the absurd fuss that greeted the lifting of restrictions allowing Romanians and Bulgarians to work in the UK.

We suffered weeks of poisonous rhetoric and whispered half-truths. Except they weren’t whispered in some quarters so much as shouted from the front pages of our less wholesome national newspapers. We were warned that a fresh horde of greedy immigrants would be charging across the borders, either to ‘steal’ our jobs or to sign up for every available social benefit.

And then the day dawned and virtually no one arrived. Those few who did make it were outnumbered by the shoving mass of reporters and camera lenses.

This apparently much-feared happening turned out to be a massive non-event. The non-arrival of hordes of Bulgarians and Romanians was certainly an anticlimax to those who believe that the country is at tipping point, with everything about to slide off the plate.

In a funny way, what this reveals is that politics and immigration don’t really mix. An honest approach to immigration does not rely on headline statements from prime ministers and leaders of the opposition.

It should not be an excuse for a shouting match in which all those taking part end up looking vile or stupid, or possibly both.

No, immigration has to be managed in a quiet, sensible manner, while accepting both the many benefits and necessary limitations.

Most people, according to the latest British Social Attitudes Survey, are nervous about immigration, with around 75 per cent wanting to see a cut in numbers.

Given the hostile heat of the debate, this isn’t surprising – although people do nearly always massively over-estimate the numbers of immigrants who arrive in this country.

This point was well made by BBC political editor Nick Robinson in his documentary on Tuesday night, The Truth About Immigration.

Vince Cable, that old son of York, popped up in the documentary. Now Vince doesn’t always speak as much sense as is sometimes claimed on his behalf. This is because his mouth is too full of the cake he is having and eating.

Yet the Lib Dem Business Secretary was right to say in Robinson’s film that David Cameron’s pledge to cut net migration to the “tens of thousands” by the next election was impractical and “not sensible”.

Mr Cable said arbitrary caps did not work because the Government was not in control of the process.

“It involves British people emigrating – you can’t control that. It involves free movement within the European Union – in and out. In involves British people coming back from overseas, who are not immigrants but who are counted in the numbers.”

Asked by Robinson if Mr Cameron’s target was “a bit of nonsense”, Cable said: “I wouldn’t use the word nonsense…”

Well, frankly I would. And like many things Mr Cameron says, as with his promises this week on pensions, you never quite know exactly what you are being told.

A headline-grabbing statement is made, and then the questions start to fall like dandruff from a shaken head.

Immigration will always worry or upset some people more than others. Politicians who try to define the debate by instigating a nasty, fearful row eventually make Britain look shabby and unpleasant. And that’s hardly the sort of country we should want to be, is it?

Of course, some people will arrive here from Romania and Bulgaria, that’s if they don’t favour another European country. Most are likely to be young, keen and wanting to work. Few, if any, will be aiming for a free ride.

And none will be sitting outside your front door or mine.