The Tories and immigration

David Cameron braved The Today Programme this morning to talk immigration. The interview exposed the openings that the Tories have given with their pledge to reduce the overall level of net immigration. John Humphrys kept pressing Cameron on what his ideal number of immigrant would be and Cameron wouldn’t—or couldn’t—answer the question.

Humphrys then moved on to asking him whether he wasn’t effectively seeking to stop black immigration to Britain as white Europeans would be able to come here without hindrance while Commonwealth or other migrants would be subject to quotas. Cameron dealt with this question well and listening to his tone it was impossible to imagine that race was in any way a motivating factor behind the Tory policy.

The danger for the Conservatives comes from the fact that any wrong note sounded on this policy by one of their MPs will dominate the headlines and undo the good work that Cameron has done with his reasoned tone. One other thing worth noting from the interview was how Cameron once more committed himself to welfare reform. Fraser explains how important this is in the cover story this week.