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Monday 29 July 2013

Coalition at war over immigration as Cable attacks 'stupid and offensive' Tory posters telling migrants to go home

Controversial: Adverts have been driven around London on vans to encourage illegal immigrants to go home
Via - Daily Mail 
The Coalition was at war over immigration last night after Vince Cable accused the Tories of trying to stoke up a ‘sense of fear’.
The Liberal Democrat Business Secretary said Conservative ministers were ‘obsessing’ about immigration numbers.
He dismissed reports that there are now more than a million illegal immigrants in this country, saying: ‘The idea there’s some vast hidden army of people is almost certainly wrong.’ 
And he attacked a controversial Home Office poster campaign urging illegal immigrants to ‘go home or face arrest’, questioning whether the targets of the posters would even understand them.
Mr Cable said the Lib Dems had not been consulted about the van campaign – and suggested it was a cynical attempt by the Conservatives to stoke up public fears about immigration.
He said: ‘It was stupid and it’s offensive. It is designed, apparently, to sort of create a sense of fear in the British population that we have a vast problem with illegal immigration. We have a problem, but it’s got to be dealt with in a measured way by dealing with the underlying causes.’
He questioned whether illegal immigrants would have enough of a ‘sophisticated grasp of English’ to be able to read the posters on the vans at a distance.
His comments grew an angry response from senior Tories last night.
A source close to Home Secretary Theresa May said: ‘Vince Cable clearly has no idea how to manage illegal immigration.’
The source defended the £10,000 poster campaign, pointing out it costs an average of £15,000 to deport a single illegal immigrant. ‘If we can persuade them to go voluntarily there are huge savings to be made.’
Attack: Business Secretary Vince Cable slammed a Tory scheme to crackdown on illegal immigrants by driving a van with an advert on around London
Attack: Business Secretary Vince Cable slammed a Tory scheme to crackdown on illegal immigrants by driving a van with an advert on around London

Tory MP Mark Reckless, a member of the Commons Home Affairs Committee, said: ‘Rather than a culture of fear, we are creating a culture of action on illegal immigration. If Vince Cable doesn’t agree with government policy in this area, it is always open to him to resign.’ 
Fellow Tory Nick de Bois said the Lib Dems appeared to be ‘divorced from reality’ on immigration. He added: ‘It is absolute nonsense to suggest anyone is trying to create a climate of fear. All Vince Cable is doing is repeating the mistakes of the past by trying to close down a frank, honest and constructive debate about illegal immigration.’
Mr Cable also criticised David Cameron’s pledge to cut annual net immigration from more than 200,000 to under 100,000, adding: ‘Obsessing about this net immigration figure is not helpful.’
The Home Office’s illegal immigration initiative was piloted in six London boroughs last week but could be rolled out nationally if it proves successful.
The blunt message has also been displayed in leaflets, posters and messages in local newspapers.
Controversial: Adverts have been driven around London on vans to encourage illegal immigrants to go home
Controversial: Adverts have been driven around London on vans to encourage illegal immigrants to go home

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper branded the poster campaign a ‘cynical stunt’ and said there was ‘complete confusion’ over whether the billboards represented government policy.
She added: ‘With no consultation with local communities the Government has simply caused offence with these ill-judged ad vans.
‘They seem to be aimed at lost Tory voters rather than a sensible strategy to tackle illegal immigration.
‘Now Cabinet ministers are openly disagreeing. Vince Cable is right – they are stupid – but why then is the Government sticking by them, instead of getting the basics right with a proper plan for efficient border enforcement?’

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