Socialist Resistance

An archive of socialistresistance.org, 2002–2022

Blair to steal Howard's racist policies

Socialist Resistance no22  |  page 1-2

This is scanned newsprint, not web text. The original PDFs carried no text layer at all, so every word here was read off the page by OCR. Expect dropped opening letters, run-together words and wrong characters. There was no contents page to cut the paper up by, so the articles were found from the size of their headlines: a headline may carry its kicker, and where an article ran beside a boxed panel a few lines of the neighbour can appear. The scanned issue is the authority; this text is here so the words can be found at all.

Hard Labour announces tighter crackdown as liberties! FAILING Tory leader Michael Howard certainly made a splash with the launch of his new immigration policy with a full-page advert in the Sunday Telegraph on January 23, followed quickly by speeches and interviews.

But what will have a more profound impact on the lives of asylum seekers, migrants and black people in Britain is the immediate decision of the new Labour government to steal the very same racist proposals for their own electoral policy.

At the centre of Howard's proposals for limiting immigration is a quota for asylum seekers. Day one of a Tory administration would see the new government ripping up Britain's commitment to the Geneva Convention.

The Home Secretary would have IRAQ: after the elections Two pages of analysis -p 15-17 Taking

power to reject claims on a number of grounds, and in fact no one could make a claim in this country at all. Asylum seekers would only be accepted through UNHCR. 24-hour security would be set up at ports and an Australian-style points system would be established for all immigration, with a total annual limit on numbers. Michael Howard has been taking lessons from his advisor, Linton Crosby who worked for many years for right-wing Australian PM John Howard. Crosby was involved in the Tampa scandal, where asylum seekers were accused in the Australian media of throwing their children over board. But now, according to the Blair's team prepares for election

and Howard.

Dubya builds a Gulag Report from Independent on Sunday, New Labour is also taking up the same proposals, which will be incorporated into a new "5-year plan" being drawn up by Blair and Home Secretary Charles Clarke. So whichever main party wins the election, refugees and migrant workers will suffer a new round of attacks.

These policies, and the increase in racist attacks, which will follow the right-wing rhetoric spouting from the two main parties, are the real threat to "good community relations".

We say, "No to Fortress Britain, asylum seekers and migrants should be welcome here": and let's step up the campaign to build Respect as a viable political alternative to the terrible twin conservative parties of Blair Bring the troops home Demonstrate Saturday 19 March central London 1pm Fighting to Centre page 12-13