Hysteria in the Tory Party

Immigration has been at the centre of British politics for years now. On one side you have cries to close the border totally and on the other to actively increasing immigration. In 2012 517,000 people immigrated to the UK whilst 349,000 emigrated from it, resulting in a net migration of +168,000. Preliminary estimates for 2013 show this rising slightly to 183,000 with 320,000 people leaving and 503,000 arriving. Considering that David Cameron and the Tories promised to curb immigration, this reflects poorly on them with their base.

Part of the problem for the Conservative Party is that they legally cannot do anything to stop people coming from the EU. The only countries that can face restrictions are Bulgaria and Romania who joined the EU in 2007. Unfortunately for the Tories, these restrictions must be lifted following the end of 2013. This is predicted to cause a mild spike in immigration next year. Rising immigration could prove disastrous for the Tories leading into the 2015 election. They are extremely fearful of UKIP whose twin issues are immigration and the EU. The Tories fear that if they do not appear conservative enough on the EU and immigration then UKIP will pull enough votes from them to guarantee a 2015 electoral defeat.

Cue hysteria in the Conservative Party!

David Cameron has announced support for a cap on EU migrants at 75,000 per year! The proposed cap is blatantly illegal and would destroy Britain’s relationship with Europe. Cameron has also proposed changes to benefits which are much more sensible (not to mention legal). New immigrants will not be able to claim benefits for the first three months and benefits will stop after six months if they cannot find a job and have no hope of finding one.