Woolas gagged - for now
Fraser Nelson 3:01pm
Phil Woolas has only been immigration minister a few weeks, and is already controversial enough a figure to be pulled from Question Time. A humiliation for him? I suspect his job is going completely to plan. His Times interview in which he called for the population to be capped at 70m looked part of a co-ordinated campaign, slated as it was ahead of his Politics Show and Question Time appearances. He is, it seems, being groomed to become less libidinous version of David Blunkett - a blunt speaker who occasionally ventures over the top. His job will be to say crazy stuff now and again, cause a stir, and in general give the impression that the government is tough on immigration. Blunkett would use words like “swamped” and then let the press go wild. So he talked tough on immigration while presiding over an utterly chaotic system. I remember talking to one Immigration and Nationality Directorate officer at the time who told me his whole agency may as well not exist, as anyone who wanted to come and settle in Britain could if they put their mind to it.
Brown is astute enough to know that mass immigration + the pending mass unemployment = political disaster (I looked at this in my last News of the World column). And I suspect a genuine change in position on immigration will take place, for political reasons. CoffeeHousers may remember that Liam Byrne, Woolas’ predecessor, trashed Frank Field’s call for a one-in-one-out policy of “Balanced Migration” (pdf). But now things have changed, and two weeks ago Field was invited to brief Jacqui Smith on the subject. So I suspect the Woolas farrago is part of a genuine shift it both language and policy. Brown knows how dangerous immigration can be to him as an issue, and he (or Mandy) most likely decided not to waste Woolas’ next planned explosion now that Osborne is on the ropes.
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C Powell
October 23rd, 2008 4:01pm Report this commentOr, possibly, they realised that putting him in front of an audience would result in at least some of that audience asking hard questions like: what are they actually going to do to stop people coming, are they going to take steps to deport people who should not be here etc etc... and we'd soon realise that the government has no answers to these questions and no real intention of doing anything about this issue.
mac
October 23rd, 2008 4:11pm Report this commentWoolas is a classic Orwellian secret dog of Comrade Napoleon Brown, dashing about and snarling at his master's bidding.
But not even Mandelson will be able to shove this genie back in the bottle. The electorate knows perfectly well that Labour has held the door open to uncontrolled immigration for 11 years, positively extolling the virtues of the policy from the outset of the New Labour project. It's another account to be settled at the election.
This chicken will come home to roost whatever linguistic gymnastics Labour serves up.
hadrian
October 23rd, 2008 4:26pm Report this commentApart from our lunatic involvement in the great imperial EU venture, those most responsible for our immigration nightmare are the liberal left, starting with our misguided governments of the past ten years. That only now does it dawn on them that immigration will be a 'political' problem that will hurt them personally do they look like trying to reverse things. One more example of the age of Irresponsibility, Gordon?
Atticus Finch
October 23rd, 2008 5:44pm Report this commentAbsolutely right. Put Woolas on QT and the debate will be dominated by immigration. Mandelson does not want the fire to be drawn from Osborne.
Clearly Mandelson thinks he can call the shots and Brown is happy to let him. Blair had the strength to challenge him and, on occasion, did. Brown can't because he needs him.
Jack R
October 23rd, 2008 5:49pm Report this commentJoining up the dots: Labour's stealth (non-Labour manifesto) policy of mass immigration over the past 11 years and continuing, is based on its unarticulated 'multiculturalist' ideology; this mass immigration is having several severe negative effects on British culture, society and economy. One of the effects will be, as Woolas stated, the disestablishment of the Church of England, as Labour pursues Muslim votes.
Jkerr
October 23rd, 2008 5:52pm Report this commentI reckon the fact he is going up against alex salmond, would ensure a mauling. So they have opted for bare faced liar Mc Nulty
RobertD
October 23rd, 2008 6:12pm Report this commentClassic NuLibor working both sides of the street. Woolas making a big noise addressed at the white working class who, under competition from immigrants for jobs, housing and education,and healthcare, may be flirting with the BNP. Big Boss Smith continues to coo to the Polly trendies that nothing nasty is going on. Despite all the noise in practice sweet PA actually changes.
TGF UKIP
October 23rd, 2008 9:41pm Report this commentFraser, I read with considerable amusement in your N.O.W. piece "This is a difficult issue for the Tories who are terrified of being called racist. As they um and ah, Brown will get moving."
Being, course, a best mate and serial promoter of Dave's, you can't of course elaborate on this. Particularly on who Dave might be terrified of being called a racist by.
Certainly not the possibly Tory inclined ordinary voter who probably longs for nothing more than for the Tories to assert themselves on this and parallel issues.
Why can't you ever really spell it out, Fraser? Prissy, priggish, ultra pc Dave has put himself so much in hock with the Polly/Today Programme liberal establishment that he is now precluded from any popular, let alone populist, stance even on natural Conservative Party issues like immigration.
Has any party leader so frequently and so accurately shot himself in the foot as The Speccie's Best Mate, Political Genius Dave.
Dontcha love him, Gordon!
Fraser Nelson
October 23rd, 2008 11:38pm Report this commentTGF, not much to disclose. Many Tories in the 05 campaign believe they lost votes due to the Crosby-driven immigration theme and are loathe to go near it now - that's all. DC and GO both hated Howard's "it isnt racist to want limits on immigration" line and remain, in my view, over-sensitive to the subject.
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