Is he talking sense?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.telegraph....Miliband-adviser.html

Now here is a guy who at last is talking sense, but surprise surprise no major political party will listen to him.

/// However, the Labour party was last night quick to distance itself from the suggestions, insisting Lord Glasman’s views were “his own”.///

/// Immigration has been thrust back on to the political agenda by both Labour and the Conservatives.///

[Aquagility]

Putting Britain first does not mean stopping all immigration. It means just letting in those people that we really need.

[andy-hughes]

If stopping all imigration was a) feasible, and b) a vote winner, then any major party in the country would have signed up for it in about five seconds.

The fact that they don't - and the Labour are keen to distance themselves from such a notion proves that the situation is simply not that simple, not that (ahem!) black and white.

[jake-the-peg]

Very true

We need immigration otherwise the economy will collapse when all the baby-boomers retire.

Trick will be to attract the best ones to come and live here - not the ones who come and work for a few years and send all their money home

[Old_Geezer]

How many really qualify under those terms if you insist companies train folk here rather than look to buy skills in?

[New Judge]

Jake, for how long are you going to stick to this ridiculous notion that the economy will collapse without an ever increasing population mainly fuelled by immigration?

I think we’ve done this before, but surely you can see that it is simply not sustainable. You cite the issue of the so-called baby boomers retiring. Well, strangely enough the immigrants brought in to work here will themselves retire (and need a pension or benefits) and more will have to be brought in to replace them. And so on.

There are between 2.5 and 6 million people unemployed in the UK (depending whose estimate you believe and who you count). I cannot believe they are all unemployable or lack the skills that only immigrants can provide and it is absolutely ludicrous to pay them to sit at home whilst shipping in even more people to undertake the work they cannot or will not do.

Whether or not it is a vote winner is debateable, Andy. However the government does enough things that are clearly not vote winners because the country needs them to. And they certainly need to do this. My Lord Glasman has stuck his head above the parapet. It will be a hard slog, particularly when it comes to immigration from Europe, but hopefully the impending break up of the single currency will break the political convergence dogma which infests Europe and will also lead to a revocation of the “free movement” regulations which are causing so many problems. (It cannot be that impractical because France managed to impose temporary restrictions almost overnight when they were upset by immigrants from Africa coming in via Italy).

I wish Lord Glasman every success.

[boxtops]

Most of the baby-boomers can't afford to retire yet anyway - I know I can't.

[plautus]

Didn't the baby-boomers have babies? Didn't they grow up? Don't they work?

[boxtops]

Yes, yes and yes.

[Old_Geezer]

Not all of them work: some find the earlier generations clinging on to the available jobs onger that they wished or anticipated in order to pay for their future pension, and the unemployed's wefare, and help their offspring out.

[emmie]

He is, but no one in government or indeed opposition will listen, the subject matter is a politicial hot potato, and no one is willing to pick it up. No one that can do anything about it at least.