4 ms·

> Labour actively avoid doing anything the Tories can spin to weaponise the electorate against them Except on immigration, where the roles are reversed [1]. Th

> Labour actively avoid doing anything the Tories can spin to weaponise the electorate against them Except on immigration, where the roles are reversed [1]. That's why immigration to the UK increased post-Brexit, despite the referendum being an expression of anti-immigration sentiment [2]. [1] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/10055613/Labour-sent-out-search-parties-for-immigrants-Lord-Mandelson-admits.html https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/10055613... [2] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/25/world/europe/uk-migration.html https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/25/world/europe/uk-migration...

gadders 3y ago
Easier to import supportive voters than create them.
- ben_w 3y ago
  Immigrants don't get to vote for MPs until they've become citizens[0], that takes ages and is really expensive[1]. [0] https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8985/ https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-... [1] https://www.gov.uk/apply-citizenship-indefinite-leave-to-remain https://www.gov.uk/apply-citizenship-indefinite-leave-to-rem... for the citizenship itself, plus double-paying for the NHS in the meantime: https://www.gov.uk/healthcare-immigration-application/how-much-pay https://www.gov.uk/healthcare-immigration-application/how-mu...
  - autoexec 3y ago
    Their kids will get to vote though
    - ben_w 3y ago
      They take even longer to any electoral payoff (even if it's positive), both because of the legal minimum age and because younger people tend to participate less in elections.
      - autoexec 3y ago
        No doubt that'd be playing the long game.
        ben_w 3y ago
        I see nobody in the Labour or Tory parties who could play that kind of long game, and seldom few who even think past the next election.
      - gadders 3y ago
        They don't have to physically vote. They just give their ballot slip to a "Community Leader" and he fills them all in for the candidate. See Tower Hamlets as an example.
        ben_w 3y ago
        The only irregularities I know about in Tower Hamlets were (1) illegal at the time, (2) caught, (3) not of a large enough scale to change the result, and (4) were cited as a reason for the change of law forcing all voters to present photo ID at the booth[0]. Also: What ballot slips? You don't get a ballot slip if you're not on the electoral register, and that only happens at voting age. Waiting for migrant's unborn kids to reach that age will always take longer than waiting for their parents, who, again, don't start off able to vote as soon as they arrive. [0] this in turn was condemned as a way to suppress votes from various communities (because e.g. some of the ID was allowed if you were a pensioner, but the identical equivalent ID for students wasn't).

gadders 3y ago

Easier to import supportive voters than create them.

ben_w 3y ago
Immigrants don't get to vote for MPs until they've become citizens[0], that takes ages and is really expensive[1]. [0] https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8985/ https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-... [1] https://www.gov.uk/apply-citizenship-indefinite-leave-to-remain https://www.gov.uk/apply-citizenship-indefinite-leave-to-rem... for the citizenship itself, plus double-paying for the NHS in the meantime: https://www.gov.uk/healthcare-immigration-application/how-much-pay https://www.gov.uk/healthcare-immigration-application/how-mu...
- autoexec 3y ago
  Their kids will get to vote though
  - ben_w 3y ago
    They take even longer to any electoral payoff (even if it's positive), both because of the legal minimum age and because younger people tend to participate less in elections.
    - autoexec 3y ago
      No doubt that'd be playing the long game.
      - ben_w 3y ago
        I see nobody in the Labour or Tory parties who could play that kind of long game, and seldom few who even think past the next election.
    - gadders 3y ago
      They don't have to physically vote. They just give their ballot slip to a "Community Leader" and he fills them all in for the candidate. See Tower Hamlets as an example.
      - ben_w 3y ago
        The only irregularities I know about in Tower Hamlets were (1) illegal at the time, (2) caught, (3) not of a large enough scale to change the result, and (4) were cited as a reason for the change of law forcing all voters to present photo ID at the booth[0]. Also: What ballot slips? You don't get a ballot slip if you're not on the electoral register, and that only happens at voting age. Waiting for migrant's unborn kids to reach that age will always take longer than waiting for their parents, who, again, don't start off able to vote as soon as they arrive. [0] this in turn was condemned as a way to suppress votes from various communities (because e.g. some of the ID was allowed if you were a pensioner, but the identical equivalent ID for students wasn't).