EMBARRASSING QUOTATIONS
Some short ideas & sound bites
IMMIGRATION & ASYLUM
ANDREW ALEXANDER, Daily Mail
“Michael Howard calls for 24 hour security at our ports. Most of us are incredulous we don’t have it now.”
ANTHONY BROWNE, The Times
“Britain is a country with a major neurosis about immigration … the debate about immigration is about as ill informed and hypocritical as the Victorian discourse about sex. Many people are extremely uncomfortable about saying anything other than the official line that all immigration is good.”
LORD FALCONER, Observer, 4 April 2004
"I think it is incredibly important now that we make it absolutely clear that we are keen to encourage immigration. It’s got to be on the basis of proper management but our society benefits from properly managed immigration."
MATHEW D'ANCONA, Sunday Telegraph, 4 April 2004
"Yet the government has privately concluded – rightly in my view – that the sooner we are ‘swamped’ by industrious immigrants from Eastern Europe, the better. In this case populist policies and grown up economics are utterly irreconcilable."
POLLY TOYNBEE, Guardian, 31 March 2004
"It was welcome to hear both Blunkett and Hughes talk with sincerity of the need for more migration and they mean it. This now goes beyond vague platitudes on the value of diversity: there is growing Europe-wide anxiety about fast depleting European populations. GDP growth partly depends on population growth and helps to explain why the US streaks ahead of the EU. Size of GDP determines global power. Europe’s influence will fade fast without more immigration (as well as a much higher birth rate)."
OBSERVER EDITORIAL, 4 April 2004
"We hope that the Prime Minister will also remember that much of this country’s history is built on immigration. We need people to come here to work, to bridge the skills’ gap, in particular in construction and in the health service. However, the argument is not just economic. A multi-racial, multi-cultural society is also a social good and one that is difficult to put a price on."
SUNDAY TELEGRAPH EDITORIAL, 4 April 2004
"This government, like its Conservative predecessor, has signed up in full to the principle of enlargement: greater population mobility and a more fluid European labour market are inevitable consequences. They are also to a considerable extent, desirable. This country needs workers of the sort that Eastern Europe has to offer in droves. It also needs immigrants who are willing to work for competitive levels of pay if Britain is to retain its position in the global economy."
ANDREW RAWNSLEY, Observer, 4 April 2004
"There is evidence that most of the public are prepared to buy into the argument that the long-term health of the economy is served by the rejuvenation of the workforce with skilled, energetic immigrants. They key word for that strategy to succeed is winning hearts and minds is managed."
DAVID DAVIS, The Politics Show, BBC2, 4 April 2004
"What you have to do is manage the system properly in order to provide the skills we need, without overwhelming the local social services or the housing market, without upsetting community relations."
“Michael Howard calls for 24 hour security at our ports. Most of us are incredulous we don’t have it now.”
ANTHONY BROWNE, The Times
“Britain is a country with a major neurosis about immigration … the debate about immigration is about as ill informed and hypocritical as the Victorian discourse about sex. Many people are extremely uncomfortable about saying anything other than the official line that all immigration is good.”
LORD FALCONER, Observer, 4 April 2004
"I think it is incredibly important now that we make it absolutely clear that we are keen to encourage immigration. It’s got to be on the basis of proper management but our society benefits from properly managed immigration."
MATHEW D'ANCONA, Sunday Telegraph, 4 April 2004
"Yet the government has privately concluded – rightly in my view – that the sooner we are ‘swamped’ by industrious immigrants from Eastern Europe, the better. In this case populist policies and grown up economics are utterly irreconcilable."
POLLY TOYNBEE, Guardian, 31 March 2004
"It was welcome to hear both Blunkett and Hughes talk with sincerity of the need for more migration and they mean it. This now goes beyond vague platitudes on the value of diversity: there is growing Europe-wide anxiety about fast depleting European populations. GDP growth partly depends on population growth and helps to explain why the US streaks ahead of the EU. Size of GDP determines global power. Europe’s influence will fade fast without more immigration (as well as a much higher birth rate)."
OBSERVER EDITORIAL, 4 April 2004
"We hope that the Prime Minister will also remember that much of this country’s history is built on immigration. We need people to come here to work, to bridge the skills’ gap, in particular in construction and in the health service. However, the argument is not just economic. A multi-racial, multi-cultural society is also a social good and one that is difficult to put a price on."
SUNDAY TELEGRAPH EDITORIAL, 4 April 2004
"This government, like its Conservative predecessor, has signed up in full to the principle of enlargement: greater population mobility and a more fluid European labour market are inevitable consequences. They are also to a considerable extent, desirable. This country needs workers of the sort that Eastern Europe has to offer in droves. It also needs immigrants who are willing to work for competitive levels of pay if Britain is to retain its position in the global economy."
ANDREW RAWNSLEY, Observer, 4 April 2004
"There is evidence that most of the public are prepared to buy into the argument that the long-term health of the economy is served by the rejuvenation of the workforce with skilled, energetic immigrants. They key word for that strategy to succeed is winning hearts and minds is managed."
DAVID DAVIS, The Politics Show, BBC2, 4 April 2004
"What you have to do is manage the system properly in order to provide the skills we need, without overwhelming the local social services or the housing market, without upsetting community relations."