TIMES ONLINE: Immigrants who refuse to honour British values are unwelcome, Gordon Brown said today as he pledged to do more to meet the concerns of the “mainstream majority”.
Mr Brown said he agreed that it was unfair if newcomers took advantage of Britain’s freedoms without making a fair contribution in return.
But his attempt to meet voter concerns over immigration was undermined when he was criticised by the chairman of the national statistics watchdog for exaggerating the fall in migrant numbers.
Sir Michael Scholar said that the Prime Minister had used details in his weekend podcast that were “not comparable” when claiming a recent big fall in net inward migration.
Mr Brown conceded the point today, but stuck to his theme, saying that migrant numbers had fallen by tens of thousands in the past two years.
He defended Labour’s recent record on immigration as he sought to draw the sting from a potentially inflammatory campaign issue. >>> Roland Watson, Political Editor | Wednesday, March 31, 2010
