Labour

Another week, another rewritten speech from the Prime Minister - Cooper

Yvette Cooper MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, in response to David Cameron’s speech today, said:
 
“Another week, another rewritten speech from the Prime Minister. Yesterday Downing Street said David Cameron would require companies to publish lists of foreign employees, and within 24 hours it has been dropped. The Prime Minister can’t even keep his pledges overnight and ill thought out promises like this erode trust in the Government’s approach to immigration.
 
“Time and again there is a gap between the Prime Minister’s rhetoric and reality on immigration policies. While David Cameron talks about getting tough on illegal immigration, he is undermining our border enforcement by cutting 5,000 staff from the UK Borders Agency. And where he talks about limiting work visas, these actually went up under the Government’s immigration cap.
 
“He and the Home Secretary talk about reducing net migration to the tens of thousands by 2015, “no ifs, no buts”, yet independent experts say their policies will not deliver on this promise.
 
“We would support tough action on sham marriages, forced marriages and illegal immigration that are effective. We believe in the need for strong, fair immigration controls, which support our economy. However the Prime Minister needs to realise that making pledges and consistently failing to meet them undermines trust in the entire system.”