David Cameron’s Call for “Tighter Controls on Immigration”: The Before

When the UK entered the EU, the nation had so many things to look forward to in the future to give them hope for a better one. Trade. Stronger unity with other member states. And, of course, free movement.

21 years later, and much of that mentality has changed. Unlike Nick Clegg, this change on the nation’s part was a slow, gradual one, and I believe the time has come when it is simply going to implode.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. So let me take a step back, and go back to a time before David’s Cameron recent announcement (and flexing of his muscles for UKIP’s behalf) to “tighten controls” on immigration. I am talking about the time when the Whitehall report was finally published… after a few rewrites. This report, essentially, was a government review looking into the implications of EU freedom of movement.

PM David Cameron – Source: express.co.uk

And what did the report conclude? Oh, just that “the effects of free movement on the labour market are largely viewed as positive,” more so, however, agreed upon concerning high skilled workers, as opposed to low skilled ones. At least, when it was finally published.

 

Initially, the report was delayed because Conservatives were not happy with its soft stance on immigration. The report was rewritten,which then caused the Liberal Democrats uneasiness, with Vince Cable saying the other side was taking a “propagandist approach.”

So there was another rewrite, an attempt at a compromise. It was a battle between the parties. But just which party came out on top?

In the end, all the report stated was that the issue of EU migrants and benefits had to be addressed (thank you, Prime Minister), along with other obvious conclusions, like the small amount of pressure being put on housing and schooling, alongside a concern about abuse of freedom of movement by a small, small amount of EU migrants. Yet, the Whitehall report truly did not give any backing evidence on EU immigration being all in all a negative thing. Despite the lack of evidence for the Conservatives to throw around, I feel that this battle was not necessarily won by the Lib Dems. Facts are facts, and no matter how many times they are “rewritten,” they will still remain, as always, the facts.

Until someone starts lying.

Check back tomorrow for my follow up post David Cameron’s Call for Tighter Immigration: The After. I’ll talk about just exactly how his new restrictions will affect the nation, and what exactly less immigration could mean for the UK.

Until then, email me at thetransitnational@gmail.com.