Some of my regular readers may know that I think abolishing the winter fuel allowance was the best thing that Labour could have done. Amazingly expensive, given to everyone of the right age when the majority don’t need it, a one off policy designed to cover an embarrassingly small pension increase that became cast in stone, very expensive and far outweighed by above inflation increases in the pension itself. It is and was indefensible.
Politically it is suicide but economically speaking it was the right thing to do, which brings me to the latest anti-immigration policies, which are both political suicide and economically speaking disastrous.
Labour has reacted to the surge in Reform votes in exactly the way that they shouldn’t. As economists far and wide know full well, immigration is good for the economy but now we have the farce of pretending it is bad. We are apparently even going to find and train enough care workers to replace all those foreign ones, as if.
The industry is totally dependent on nice, charming, hard working and low paid foreign staff.
We cannot find enough waiting staff, brickies, electricians or doctors in this country, but hey there are millions of people squeezed out of minimum wage care work by nasty immigrants. Natch.
Now we have Labour claiming that industry is “dependent” on and addicted to cheap foreign staff. Well if you want to spend 20 years reforming out education system so no one is left behind, make it easier for people to move for work and pay the living wage that may change a bit but you would still need immigrants. because funnily enough the more you educate people the less they want to wipe bums for a living, other more attaractive and well paid careers open up to them.
Not only is this economic suicide, it is politically dumb. You cannot out flak Reform. No one cares what you do, they believe Reform they don’t trust you on this issue.
Best to ignore it and boost the economy, point out to those Reform voters that their parents are cared for by those lovely Nigerians they like and trust and ask how many of them want their sons and daughters to change beds and bathe OAPS?
This is cowardly pandering to the far right. It will not end well. We need a sustained, sensible level of immigration, we should be begging foreign students to come here, we should be explaining why immigration works for all our benefit.
At least getting rid of the winter fuel allowance made economic sense, even if it was politically damaging, this is far worse. It is economically damaging and politically suicidal, Labour have just decided to fight on Reform’s terms.
It is also disgustingly unprincipled. The Cabinet and the government should be ashamed of itself.
From Jonty Bloom Media Ltd
Economics, trade and Brexit, not necessarily in that order but the dog always comes first.
As the care home lady said on today this morning she does not hire workers from abroad at a cheaper rate and the ones who are not native 🏴 are the best workers. Ok anecdotal but all the performative stuff from Cooper and Starmer is also based on anecdote and RW media.
Vote for Jonty Bloom!!!