THE worrying thing about Theresa May’s speech is how popular it will be. Swathes of Tories at their conference enjoyed it. It amounts to “immigrants come here and steal our jobs, push down wages and ruin our economy” and will have resonated powerfully with some voters.But it was mostly nonsense.
Her own department reported last year that there was little evidence migration stops UK natives getting jobs. A London School of Economics study says there’s no connection between what people born in this country get paid and immigration. The Office for Budget Responsibility says immigration will help cut the national debt.
May must know what she said is nonsense, but she wants to be Prime Minister and addressed the sort of constituency she needs to play to to win votes: those who want their biases confirmed rather than deal with facts.
That’s quite terrifying.
Chilling: Home Secretary condemned for speech on immigration
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