Pat McFadden hit out at Susanna Reid this morning when she asked why the government’s “relaunch” did not include immigration targets.
Labour has pledged to reduce immigration, both legal and illegal, and accused the Tories of running an “open borders experiment” during their time in office.
However, PM Keir Starmer did not make immigration one of his six milestones in his landmark speech last Thursday.
Instead, Labour promised to introduce 13,000 more police officers, 95% clean energy by 2030, treat 92% of NHS patients in 18 weeks, build 1.5m more homes, make sure 75% of five-year-olds are ready for school, and put more money in the pockets of working people by the end of the current parliamentary term.
So on Good Morning Britain, presenter Reid asked the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster: “Where’s the grasping of the immigration nettle?”
McFadden immediately hit back: “It’s on page 18 and 19 of the plan.”
Co-presenter Richard Madeley cut in and said: “Oh dear!”
Reid continued: “OK, people have got to get quite a long way through then, haven’t they?”
“It’s also on the first few pages as well. It’s right there. We want to get net migration down,” McFadden insisted.
Reid pushed: “Why isn’t it a milestone?”
The cabinet minister replied: “The history of attaching a precise number [to migration targets] is not a happy one in the UK, is it?
“This is what the Tories did.
“They told people they’d get net migration down to the tens of thousands, and then we ended up with net migration, not just a little bit more than that, but almost ten times more than that.”
Reid asked: “How do you measure that then? If you don’t put a target on it?”
McFadden said: “The actual number will always ebb and flow depending on the needs of your economy.
“By the way, I want to say to people who have come and worked hard here that they’re important to the economy, they’re important to society.”
He added: “Alongside migration, of course you’ve got to do more to train your own people to do the jobs, get more people off welfare and into work, we haven’t done enough of that in Britain in recent years.”
He also pointed to the work and pensions department’s plan to get more people off benefits and into employment, which he claimed will reduce the need for migration in the future.