http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/apr/28/general-election-2010-gordon-brown1"Gordon Brown's remark hasn't only damaged his own party, it's bad for the vote of the progressive alternative as well""The three main parties are now pretty much in agreement that Labour's early immigration policy was a mistake, with Conservatives and Labour both regretful about their joint dismantling of counting in and counting out, and all three wary of being too welcoming in the event of further EU expansion (which is somewhat on hold for the present anyway). Former Labour adviser Andrew Neather has already explained how Labour blinded itself to the adverse consequences of immigration by telling themselves how much they enjoyed "rubbing the opposition's nose in multiculturalism." Pathetic.
But, annoyingly, only the Lib Dems still "look" soft on immigration, simply because they are bold enough to offer to clean up the mess the other two parties made and stop pretending that the huge numbers of illegal immigrants already here can eventually be deported, one by one. Even their proposal to put regional restrictions on people coming in under the points system is seen as a loosening of policy, rather than the further tightening that it is.
Even more annoyingly, despite the fact that neither Labour nor the Conservatives would take Britain out of Europe all together, the Lib Dems are seen as "soft" on Europe too, even though they have the most far-reaching ambitions for positive European reform. Brown's great clunking fist hasn't only lost him votes for his own party. It has damaged the vote of the progressive alternative as well. What a disaster that man is."---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Liberal Democrats are the only party with an immigration policy that includes a path to earning citizenship for some illegal immigrants. That's the basis for the statement "they are bold enough to offer to clean up the mess the other two parties made and stop pretending that the huge numbers of illegal immigrants already here can eventually be deported, one by one."