LABOUR LEADERSHIP challenger Diane Abbott has said her opponents in the race are increasingly adopting hard-line immigration positions.
Saying she “didn’t like” the way immigration was being discussed by the other candidates, Ms Abbott said the immigration issue did not “lose the elections” for Labour, despite the belief by many that it did.
“The black and white working class are moaning about eastern European immigrants. It’s a proxy for a lack of security on jobs and housing. It’s very dangerous to scapegoat immigrants in a recession,” she said.
Labour should, instead, inspect the Liberal Democrats’ proposal – since dropped in its coalition negotiations with the Conservatives – of an amnesty for illegal immigrants who have obeyed the law since they arrived.
Describing herself as “the child of immigrants”, Ms Abbott, who represents Hackney in London in the House of Commons, said she helped to reflect the UK’s diversity, adding that the other candidates “could have run in the 1950s”.
Former British health secretary Andy Burnham, who announced his candidacy on Friday, said there was “a perception” that Labour had not listened to its core supporters’ views on immigration and housing.
“Some people felt we were either in denial [about immigration] or did not want to talk about it,” said Mr Burnham, who, unlike fellow challengers Ed Miliband and Ed Balls, is still standing by the decision to invade Iraq.
Ed Miliband has not yet secured the 33 nominations of Labour MPs needed by each candidate, though he is close. His brother, David Miliband, already has more than enough. However, Ms Abbott and fellow left-winger John McDonnell may struggle to get the requisite number.
Despite the Miliband brothers’ efforts not to damage their relationship, there are signs that some of Ed Miliband’s supporters are trying to recruit nominations by saying he is “the only one who can stop David”.
In an early sign of political divergence from his brother, David Miliband, the former British foreign secretary, said leadership candidates should not make Iraq an issue: “It is time to move on,” he told a London conference.
While voicing his respect for David Miliband, former Labour leader Lord Neil Kinnock backed his brother in the coming campaign, saying Labour “needs leadership qualities and Ed’s got more of them”, with “strong values and an ability to inspire people”.
“We really do need a leader who can reach out for the rebuilding of the Labour Party, but particularly to give coherence to our thinking,” Lord Kinnock said. “I would say he has the X-factor, especially where the X is the sign you put on the voting slip at election time.”
Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat leader and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg said the conduct of the Labour leadership race was proof that Labour was not serious in its coalition talks with his party.
“It became very, very obvious that Labour’s heart simply wasn’t in it,” he said, adding that it was quite clear listening to the candidates that they feel “they need to go into opposition, to try to decide what the Labour Party is about”.