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Miliband pledges immigration action

Tuesday, 28 April 2015 2:24 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 28 April 2015 3:02 PM ]

Opposition Labour leader Ed Miliband makes a speech at The ARC Theatre & Arts Centre northeast England, on April 27, 2015. © AFP

Labour leader Ed Miliband has promised that he will take action on immigration within the first 100 days of his premiership.

Miliband has promised to recruit 1,000 extra border control personnel whilst stopping dangerous criminals coming into Britain. Miliband himself got into some hot water over a Labour party mug that said ‘Controls on Immigration.’ Since then, he has been relatively quiet on the issue of immigration as the mug gaffe irritated core Labour supporters.

But Miliband is keen to persuade former Labour voters drifting away from the party to come back and vote for him on May 7th. In an attack on David Cameron, the Labour leader brought up a promise the Prime Minister made during the last election campaign, a promise that he has failed to keep.

"David Cameron once promised to cut net immigration to tens of thousands - and told us to kick him out of office if he didn't deliver. But net migration rose to 298,000 last year, almost exactly three times higher than he promised. Nothing damages people's faith in politics more than broken promises like that - or those he is still making today."

Miliband is set to say if he is prime minister he “will begin work immediately to fix our immigration system with a plan founded on fair rules, where wages can't be undercut and benefits must be earned; a plan where our borders and our communities are strengthened."

Last week, the Labour leader came out in vocal support of migrant workers in the UK, saying they deserve better work conditions, pay and support. He outlined a plan to curb the exploitation of migrant workers. Miliband knows he must remain, on the whole, positive when it comes to discussing immigration as he tries to avoid another red mug situation so close to the general election.

LM / HA

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