Saturday, November 3, 2007

Trevor Phillips attacks Cameron's proposals for immigration limits

Trevor Phillips, the chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission has proposed setting up a joint inquiry with the Local Government Association to investigate widespread claims that the social housing system is being abused.

This is a very positive suggestion. Throughout debates about housing and immigration it has normally been apparent that there is no hard evidence on this subject. Tom Papworth has pointed this out.

So, an inquiry to establish the facts and, hopefully, defuse some of the more incendiary debates on this issue, would be welcome.

While praising David Cameron for an attempt to "repudiate" the Tory legacy of treating immigration along racial lines, Phillips attacked the Tory leader's proposals for caps on the number of non-EU immigrants:

He is giving the 20th century answer in proposing that all of these issues can be solved by capping numbers. Rather, we need to meet head on the challenges of rapid and diverse population growth.

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