One of the country’s most respected bloggers, Iain Dale, posted this today, having heard our very own ED on the ‘Politics Show‘.
‘LibDem Immigration Policy Unravels
Iain Dale 2:40 PM
At the best of times, Ed Davey is a politician who I find intensely irritating. He looks and sounds so holier than thou. I console myself that whenever he appears on TV it loses the LibDems votes. And his appearance on the Politics Show today was no exception. He made Pinocchio look truthful. He made so many spurious claims about immigration that it was difficult to know where to start to refute them……………
• Davey repeated Nick Clegg’s claim in the final Leaders’ Debate that 80 per cent of immigration comes from the EU and therefore can’t be controlled. The real figure is less than a third.
• Davey said that the Conservatives supported ‘an amnesty called the 14 year rule.’ This is not true. Conservatives do not support the 14 year rule, which is in any case for exceptional cases, unlike the Lib Dems’ blanket amnesty.
• Davey said that his party’s amnesty was ‘a one-off’ that ‘would have no impact’ on immigration. Evidence from other countries that have tried amnesties shows that they lead to more illegal immigration and more amnesties as they encourage more illegal immigrants to try their luck.
• Davey claimed that the Conservatives removed exit checks when they were last in Government. This is not true – it was Labour who removed them in 1998 and the Conservatives support their reintroduction.
And to add insult to injury, Davey finished his comments on immigration by saying that ‘People dislike politicians because they don’t tell the truth’. Pot, Kettle, Black.’
A small UKIP leaflet was delivered by the postman this morning. The good thing about it was that it was devoid of the unpleasant negativity of the Liberal Democrat efforts on which I have commented earlier.
It didn’t have room to say much except that the candidate wants to ‘kick ass in Westminster’ (sic). Refreshing? Maybe!
- Mr. Davey claims to have saved Surbiton Hospital. Nonsense – that was a community effort involving Councillors for Surbiton Hill ward first , followed by others. The ‘Comet’ got involved very early on. Public concern was raised and there were public meetings to consult. Individual doctors and Residents’ Associations played a vital part. I’m not saying Mr. Davey didn’t play an important role – but why do he and his party never give others any credit and always have to claim that they are the only good guys and everyone else is a baddie?
- A further smear appears about Tory cuts in local services. We, who campaigned to keep open day centres for the elderly are, apparently, about to close Alfriston. Actually it was kept open 12 years ago as a result of a match funding deal between Kaleidoscope and RBK on the motion of Labour Cllr. Jeremy Thorne and myself. Davey certainly raised publicity about it and caused Lib Dem councillors do do a smart about turn.
- The Tories, who campaigned for weekly recycling collections in 2006, are also supposed the be about to launch an attack on recycling. When we’ve pledged to freeze the Council Tax for 2 years (at least) there’s no way we’re going to risk increasing our liability to pay Landfill Tax.
- The Lib Dems know this very well. Their allegations are based on absolutely no foundation other than Lib Dem scaremongering. This ‘Voice’ is full of it from start to finish.
Ed Davey wondered why we were sceptical about his and Ms. Kramer’s reported ‘threat’ to Kingston Hospital. The answer is obvious – treated over the years to the ceaseless diatribe of scares, half-truths, downright untruths and snide innuendo which is the stock in trade of the Liberal Democrats, and of which this ‘Voice’ is a prime example, what decent person can believe a word they say?
Policies: At no time in the last 13 years have the Lib Dems opposed Labour’s de facto open door policy, that has seen immigration to Britain soar by at least 2.5 million since 1997. One must assume, therefore, that this tunes nicely with their own policy stance.
I say ‘at least’ because we don’t know how many illegal immigrants are in the country. Never mind, Mr. Clegg has a policy for that too, which he kept carefully under wraps last Thursday. It is to grant an amnesty to long term illegal immigrants – in effect legalising retrospectively their illegal entry into Britain.
Comment: They have borrowed this idea from, of all people, George W. Bush, who tried to introduce it in the USA some years back. Granting citizenship to illegal immigrants is a sure fire way of encouraging yet more illegal immigration in the hope of a further amnesty in the future.
Illegal immigration very often means ‘people trafficking’ and that is the 21st century’s version of the Slave Trade – sometimes literally so – except that, by a cruel twist, the illegal immigrants often pay huge sums to shady characters to be ‘trafficked’. Some ended up not all that long ago drowned in Morecambe Bay. It is a thing against which we should all set our faces. No wonder Mr. Clegg didn’t live up to his 2007 pledge to ‘speak fearlessly’ about it.
It saddens me to say it but
If you vote Liberal Democrat – this is what you’re voting for.
Policy stance: Strongly committed to European federalism and joining the Euro at the earliest opportunity. Want to give up our remaining opt outs from various EU policies and join in with schemes like the European arrest warrant, criticising the resistance of the Conservatives and UKIP ‘as resistance to the international fight against ‘drug trafficking, gun smuggling and sex slavery’ (Lib Dem campaign leaflet 2009 European election).
Comment: The Tories are fighting the right of a foreign judge to issue an arrest warrant against a British subject for something which may not even be considered a crime under British Law. This is what the Lib Dems are criticising. They fought the 2005 election pledged to back a referendum on the European Constitution but then, at the first opportunity, voted with the Government on the Lisbon Treaty and ensured there was no referendum before ratification. They can be relied upon to frustrate Cameron’s attempts to repatriate powers from Brussels and they will seek to revive Euro membership as a policy for Britain. At least, by keeping us out, Brown got something right!
If you vote Liberal Democrat, this is what you’re voting for.
I am indebted to my colleague Darren Spraggs for drawing my attention to this. The Source is as stated. The ideas apply just as much to national as to local politics.
Let us consider the idea of the Lib Dems talking about trust in British politics.
On page 21 of their campaign document, Effective Opposition, produced by the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors, it says:
“Be wicked, act shamelessly, stir endlessly.“
On page 23, it says:
“Don’t be afraid to exaggerate. For example, responses to surveys and petitions are always ‘massive’. If a council is doing something badly public expressions are always of ‘outrage’.”
And on page 4, it states:
“Positive campaigning will NOT be enough to win control of the council.”
On page 6, it says that “you can secure support from voters who normally vote Tory by being effectively anti-Labour and similarly in a Tory area secure Labour votes by being anti-Tory.“
It goes on to say:
“Oppose all service cuts … No cut is going to be popular and why court the unpopularity that goes with the responsibility of power?”
What about truth, responsibility or the welfare of the citizen? What indeed? If you vote Lib Dem, this is what you’re voting for – they say so themselves!