Lancashire Labour MP says controlling immigration should be a left wing cause
A Lancashire Labour MP has said their party needs to make the left-wing case for controlled immigration.
Jonathan Hinder, MP for Pendle and Clitheroe, believes failure to do so plays into the hands of profiteering employers seeking to cut wages.
Writing in the latest issue of The Spectator magazine, the Labour backbencher, who was elected last year, says: “Controlled immigration was once a left-wing cause.
“It was a basic tenet of trade unionism – not to mention economics – that the number of workers in a labour market dictates the rate of pay.
“When more and more people compete for the same jobs, employers can cut wages.
“Those who care about profits rather than wages tend to be in favour of more migration.
“The capitalist will always dream of importing huge numbers of workers from countries with much lower wages, knowing they can be used to drive down rates of pay and improve profits.
“The rules of labour supply and demand remain just as true today, but it is no longer a prominent part of Labour thinking.
“Immigration control is seen as a right-wing cultural issue, and the common-sense, left-wing economic case for controlled immigration mostly goes unmade.
“The debate over social care staffing illustrates this point.
“Whenever it is suggested that perhaps our extraordinary levels of immigration should be curbed, even moderately, the response is one of indignation from the liberal establishment. ‘British people don’t want to be care workers,’ they cry.
“The underlying logic here is very revealing.
“Many carers in this country are paid the minimum wage by private, profit-making companies.
“While it can be rewarding work, it is also tough, physical, often insecure, and typically offers uncertain hours.
“British workers end up pursuing alternative minimum-wage jobs as a result – even those who would be delighted to work in care if only the pay and conditions were better.
“Left-wingers would once have argued that those looking after our older generations should be treated as the heroes they are.
“Trade unions would have argued that carers should be paid wages that appeal to British workers.
“Meanwhile, those making the left-wing case for low, controlled migration are shouted down as ‘racist’ or ‘reactionary’.
“The Labour party must recognise that commitment to mass migration is a political sunk cost.
“There are glimmers of hope.
“The Prime Minister, the home secretary and the health secretary have all spoken about the need to link migration to the needs of the economy.
“But a fleeting acknowledgement is one thing; action is another.
“To avoid the working class turning their backs on Labour for good, we must start making the left-wing case for low, controlled migration, before it is too late.”