article_snippet: The report was released as immigration – ranked the second most important issue by voters – finally came to prominence in the general election campaign.
article_snippet: And Ed Miliband attempted to seize the initiative on the issue, ridiculing David Cameron at Prime Minister’s Questions over the Tories’ failure to reduce net migration to the ‘tens of thousands’.
article_snippet: Today the spotlight switches back to Labour’s own record, following the publication of a comprehensive study by the think-tank MigrationWatch.
article_snippet: Ed Miliband attempted to seize the initiative on the immigration issue at Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday over the Tories’ failure to reduce net migration to the ‘tens of thousands’ the ‘tens of thousands’
article_snippet: Labour also made it harder for border guards to stop suspected sham marriages.
article_snippet: The MigrationWatch study argues that the mass immigration policy had such huge implications the mass immigration policy should have been outlined in Labour’s election manifestos.
article_snippet: The think-tank’s report says: ‘The New Labour years were characterised by a change in culture that was not shared by the wider public.
article_snippet: The BBC is blamed for stifling debate on the subject, while anyone who dared to voice anyone who dared to voice concerns risked being ‘thought to be racist’.
article_snippet: Damagingly for Mr Miliband, the analysis concludes that Labour may pursue similar policies if Labour returns to power – pointing out that the party leader forgot to mention immigration in the party leader conference speech last year.
article_snippet: Labour refuses to impose a target for net migration and has said Labour would remove foreign students from figures.
article_snippet: MigrationWatch also points out the failure of Mr Cameron to meet Mr Cameron
article_snippet: MigrationWatch chairman Lord Green of Deddington said:
article_snippet: This is a fascinating but very sad story of how a small but determined group appear to have manipulated immigration policy while deterring any opponents with false allegations of racism.
article_snippet: It doubted Labour would reduce the scale of immigration to a ‘sensible level’ and said pressure from pro-immigration groups would ‘very likely lead to the gates being thrown open once more’.
article_snippet: The report by the independent think-tank says one possible explanation for Labour’s policy was a desire to win future elections.
article_snippet: Through deliberate policy changes and rank incompetence, Labour presided over the largest wave of immigration in modern history.
article_snippet: Here, JAMES SLACK examines the key decisions which brought 3.6million foreign nationals to Britain...
article_snippet: The Tories inherited a backlog of a further 368,100 cases from Labour in 2010.
article_snippet: Numbers duly rocketed from 39,000 in 1997 to 180,000 a year by the time Labour lost power in 2010 – but
article_snippet: The report claims this is likely to have led to more people overstaying their visas and becoming illegal immigrants.