Immigration

Immigration is not just a sensitive subject.

It's a subject where the Government has been incompetent and not told the whole truth.

And it's a subject where some national tabloids tell blatant lies.

The latest argument over visas from Romania and Bulgaria needs an independent enquiry. And not just on statistics. We need to know if the visa regime has been abused, and if Ministers allowed illegal immigration to go unchecked.

Without an independent enquiry, we can't restore confidence in the system, and we can't learn where we must tighten up, to stop illegal immigration.

Yet we also need a frank debate about legal immigration. To challenge the lies and myths peddled by some tabloids.

The vast majority of immigrants in the UK are legally here, working and paying taxes.

Why don't tabloids tell us of the thousands of immigrant nurses working in our NHS, or in our care homes for the elderly?

Why don't these "newspapers" report on the highly skilled immigrants working in London's financial centre, paying millions in taxes, for our pensions and healthcare?

Why don't tabloids remind us of the foreign builders, electricians and plumbers building the homes we need, because we're short of skilled labour in the construction industries?

There are two sides to every story.

But that truth wouldn't create the headlines of fear that Britain's newspaper "fat cat" tycoons need to earn their next million.