Labour MP Steve McCabe is the one being vilified in The Guardian today for Labour's controversial "dogwhistle" campaign in Crewe and Nantwich, focusing on ID Cards for foreign nationals. The controversial leaflet was first featured by Guido Fawkes and here on CentreRight by Simon Chapman.
I am surprised that the national media hasn't picked up on this before, as Gordon Brown has regularly been trying to taunt David Cameron at PMQs, asking him why he won't support ID cards which are only for foreign nationals. See PMQs on 19th January, 19th March, and yesterday.
In fact, the "ID cards for foreign nationals" slogan is as much the PM's as the "British jobs for British workers" mantra. McCabe is merely echoing his master's voice.
Meanwhile, there might be more trouble for the Government with the Guardian and others over their new plan announced by Brown yesterday for a "Migrant Impact Fund" tax on foreigners. This was a little covered part of his Draft Queen's Speech: "And newcomers will be required to pay into a migration impact fund to help local communities deal with changes in population." (Hansard, 14.05.2008, column 1388). I and others have been campaigning for some time for local communities to be given financial help where large numbers of migrants are arriving, but that's not the same as a direct tax levied on foreign migrants. An MP friend next to me called it "A Poll Tax on Poles", although he (probably rightly) concluded it would be against EU law to levy it on EU nationals.
Nonetheless, the Government needs to be clear what this new tax will be, and how it will be levied. Will there be a toll booth at Heathrow Airport, or will would-be migrants pay at the British consulate before setting off, or will it apply when someone is here for more than a few months, or what? The tax will, says Brown, "help local communities", but will it be raised by local Councils? If so, it does start to sound like the Poll Tax of 1990, but in Brown's case only for foreigners?
Whatever the details turn out to be, I smell trouble for Brown on this one.
2:10pm update: The Government has provided some detail on the "Migrant Tax". They will increase the cost of visas and give the money to communities hit by problems with large-scale immigration, is what they say, but it seems this will only provide around £20m, so it will have little or no effect, other than to increase resentment over steep visa fees.
