Values added

We can all benefit from immigration, but the deal is not unconditional - incomers must subscribe to the British 'rules of the game'

Now, the challenge for Labour, which we are addressing, is that around the world, it is not the left but the right that's seizing this debate. The conservative argument is simple: shared values, argue the neocons, are best preserved in tradition. And tradition is best pickled in "traditional institutions". So, roll back the state and let what de Tocqueville called "the art of association" flourish.

But the right is wrong. Traditional institutions alone are just not enough to reaffirm the "ties that bind" us. Not least because they simply don't command the trust they once did - from the monarchy to the BBC. They are no longer regarded as the unambiguously good beacons they were among even the sceptical baby-boomers, never mind anyone younger (over 50% of Britain is under 40).

Reinforcing traditional institutions will be part of the deal. But there must be other fronts, too.

Immigration policy is one of them - and, needless to say, Britain won't be labouring alone. You don't often hear this but, since the 1960s, the near doubling of global migration has actually been centred on the US and Germany - two nations that have absorbed a major proportion of this great new movement of people. But most western nations have been affected and most are starting to put "values" at the heart of their immigration systems.

But the deal is not unconditional. The rules are unambiguous: speak the language, obey the law, and pay your taxes like the rest of us.

How does bringing in a flood of alien freeloaders who immediately go on welfare with their multiple wives, children and elder relations, and who adhere to a religion that teaches them to despise native Britons and traditional British values to the point of becoming terrorist bombers, “add value” to the UK?

interesting comments follow the article...not a single one would make me want to live in the UK:

‘Liam, old chap, give it up. You’re too late and the damage is done. Re-arrange the words - stable, door, horse, bolted. We should have had this debate and your “review” on the impact of mass immigration years before New Labour decided to open the UK’s door to the new EU countries. Shame your “13,000” a year turned out to be more like one million and counting eh?

‘As I said, the damage is done. Thousands of people have seen their neighbourhoods transformed almost overnight. What were once quiet residential areas that you’d be proud to bring up your kids in are now replaced by multi-occupany homes crammed with young men who think nothing of making a noise or letting their front gardens overflow with rubbish. Go into many town centres these days and you’d think you were in Warsaw judging by the accents. I speak from personal experience.

‘I voted Labour for almost 30 years (although, Thank God, I didn’t vote for you in 2005) and I can tell you now - forget about dodgy donors, Northern Wreck, the data fiasco, ID cards, the crumbling health service, the lies, the spin and the fact that Gordon Brown is to leadership what an elephant is to ballet dancing - your pathetic immigration policy has ensured that I - and many of my friends - will never vote for you again.’

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