Tory split in London Assembly over illegal immigrant amnesty

The Guardian reports a motion that passed through the London Assembly today with a 12-5 majority. Four of the eleven Tory Assembly Members voted in favour of the motion backing the idea of London-wide amnesty for illegal immigrants. The remaining votes in favour came from Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Greens.

Four Conservatives AM voted against: the group leader Roger Evans, Tony Arbour, Gareth Bacon and Richard Tracey. The deputy mayor Richard Barnes formally abstained and two other Conservatives are reported to have left the chamber prior to the vote.

The proposal to call for an amnesty from central government was adopted by Boris Johnson during his campaign to be Mayor, in a departure from national party policy.  More recently it was advocated by the Mayor's new head of policy.

14 October update: The original Guardian story - which appears to have been edited - reported some Tory, Labour, Lib Dem and Green members voting in favour, with four Tories voting against and three abstaining or leaving the chamber. No official record is kept by the London Assembly to confirm this, but we are told (see comments) that in fact rather than voting in favour, the remaining four Tories who did not vote against, abstain or leave the chamber, were not present to vote in the first place.

Comments

[comstock]

Well done to the Tories who supported this- good to know.

Presumably the other 'against' was Barnbrook from the BNf**kingP? Shame on those four who went through the lobby with him.

[Freddie Fencepost]

"Four of the eleven Tory Assembly Members voted in favour of the motion backing the idea of London-wide amnesty for illegal immigrants."

Eeeerrrrmmmm..doesn't the term ILLEGAL immigrant tell you something. Why are tories backing ILLEGALS..

What next... amnesties for burglars...muggers et al???

Give me strength

[michael mcgough]

This should help the BNP to their first MEP.

[Iain]

An amnesty for illegals? Is that what people who voted Conservative were voting for? I very much doubt it!

[Another Richard]

Perhaps Comstock would like to give his address so that any illegal immigrants can move in with him.

After all he seems to want as many of them as possible.

[R.Baker.]

Even more power to the BNP elbows.
Such idiocy to do this,UKIP and the BNP are going to kill us off if we have any more idiot ideas like this one.

[SJM]

"Is that what people who voted Conservative were voting for?"

As Boris called for it during the Mayoral campaign, if that isn't what they were voting for then surely they weren't paying attention?

[michael mcgough]

People are losing jobs ,having pensions devalued and Tory priorities are ILLEGAL immigrants and weaker driving tests.
They don't teach 'streetwise' courses at Eton or on classics and PPE courses at Oxford do they?

[michael mcgough]

I suggest Boris attends this LSE lecture;
- The EU and Migration: whom to admit, whom to exclude?
Date: Tuesday 21 October 2008, 6.30 -8pm
Speaker: Jonathan Faull
How should the EU address skills shortages, demographic challenges and protection obligations without jeopardising social cohesion and public consent?

Jonathan Faull is Director-General, Justice, Freedom and Security, European Commission

Event Information: The EU and Migration: whom to admit, whom to exclude?

[Sean Fear]

How extraordinary that people calling themselve Conservatives should want to reward illegality.

[Graham Checker]

Profoundly unconservative policy.

What on earth is the point in voting Tory if this is what you get? What was Boris THINKING?

I expect he is doing this purely because of his hyper-sensitivity over allegations of racism in his past newspaper columns. He feels doing this "proves" he isn't. But the whole of London - and the Tory party - has to suffer as a consequence.

Stupid stupid stupid.

[Sean Fear]

Graham Checker, I think you've hit the nail on the head.

There is no chance of the Conservative Party adopting such an unconservative policy.

[Goldie]

Dreadful idea.

Immigration -legal and illegal- has been a terrible blight on Britain.

If this is what voting conservative produces, what's the point of voting conservative?

[Iain]

"How extraordinary that people calling themselve Conservatives should want to reward illegality."

Yet more evidence of the Conservative party morphing itself into the Blue Labour party, no doubt praises from Poly Toynbee, BBC and the Guardianistas will be music to their ears, as for the 12 million that used to vote Conservative for Conservative policies, well we can all sod off and find another party for we're not wanted.

[Justin Hinchcliffe]

Maybe we could get one of the four 'rebels' to write about why they voted the way they did? It's certainly not unusual for large cities to have such amnesties...

[Tanuki]

Why can any of the London Assembly conservatives possibly be supporting this idea of an 'amnesty'?

I like the idea of using an amnesty as a dragnet to identify those who have no right to be in the UK.

[Mark Hudson]

Good. Maybe all of the illegal spongers can leave Kent, where we poor taxpayers are stuck with them.

[Startup]

'reward illegality' !

They are 'sans papiers' no more. Yes some of them are criminals, but the majority of those illegals are as decent and skilled as the rest of us.

T dismmiss more than 1% of the UK population as non-human tells much about yourself

[Lancelot Owen]

Perhaps the Conservative Party should look at Spain, where Zapatero's socialist government decided to "fix" their illegal immigration problem in 2005 - by granting the largest blanket amnesty in Spanish history to nearly one million illegal immigrants.
Critics, pointed out that a blanket regularisation of illegal immigrants would simply encourage more illegals to come to Spain.
It seems they were correct. Unsurprisingly, INE, the Spanish National Statistics Institute now estimates that there are over one million new illegal immigrants in Spain.

[Malcolm Dunn]

Absolutely right Lancelot. The stupidity of Conservatives involved defies belief. People did not vote Conservative for this. I'm particularly angry with abstainers and those who left the meeting,what point are they trying to prove,that they have no opinion? I certainly hope my friend James Cleverly was not involved in this farce. I'm right in assuming am I not that the Mayor has no power to enforce this?

[Sean Fear]

"T dismmiss more than 1% of the UK population as non-human tells much about yourself "

A nice straw man, there. They have broken the law, so why should they be treated in the same way as people who have lawfully settled here? Your misrepresentation of my argument says much about your honesty.

Malcolm, the Mayor has no power. But the behaviour of Conservative abstainers is pathetic. And why the Mayor supports this stupid policy is beyond me.

[Cleethorpes Rock]

This, along with the story of the £170,000 benefits family might just be enough to get the National Socialist BNP into the European Parliament.

Will politicians ever learn?

[RichardJ]

"Maybe we could get one of the four 'rebels' to write about why they voted the way they did? It's certainly not unusual for large cities to have such amnesties..."

Possibly because public opinion tends to be against such amnesties?

I fear the BNP will take advantage of this and go on about how they're the only party in tune with public opinion.

[DavidRHayes]

Well I generally see illegal immigrants as quite selfish queue jumpers, and stealing the places of those who actually have a legitimate reason to be here.

I feel bad for those who were trafficked here, and were forced in against their will, I think that is the only case where I feel that the illegal immigrant is really the victim.

That being said I'm sure there will be other examples that will follow this to say the contrary.

[tears of a clown]

So there are two Tory points of view on this in City Hall. That will be very confusing for the Mayor. How is he going to decide what to do now?

[michael mcgough]

"How is he going to decide what to do now?"

Play his Joker?

[Simon]

If the aim is to suck up to the left-lib elite, it won't work. So many Tories are against these manoeuvres that Boris's gestures will be seen for what they are - empty. Secondly, the traditional tories are right. It is an evil ploy to amnesty illegal immigrants. It will only encourage another wave and another. It means more perilous voyages over the south Atlantic in dinghies; more racial tension; an increasing dilution and diminution of our own home culture. Ever since he decided that the Green lobby was in the right, Boris has been exposed: he is an unprincipled operator, interested in party advantage attained by the cowardly means of compromise. Such is the legacy of Cameron. Does the policy of finessing our way to the right look quite so clever now that the ideological chips are down? The Tory leadership have pursued a softly softly approach no longer viable or apt. It is time to spring to the defence of capitalism and the nation state.

[Cllr Alexa Michael]

Well done to the four who voted against. The others should look up the word 'illegal' in the dictionary.

Voting for an amnesty for illegal immigrants will only encourage the next wave.

[Conand]

Goldie@18:58 : 'Immigration -legal and illegal- has been a terrible blight on Britain.'

Huh? What an absolutely extraordinary statement!

So that rules out Churchill, Disraeli, Boris, Michael Howard, David Cameron (descended from Hanoverians) and god knows how many others. No I do know, it rules out pretty much everybody in the country!
This is a Conservative blog and no we definitely aren't a far right debating society. Take your BNP tripe elsewhere, forthwith.

[Joe James B]

Goldie seems to be a nasty troll.

[irina]

I just can not understand!?? What is a decision has been taken? YES or NO? what is next?can somebody explain it to me!? THANK YOU!

[Didactophobe]

Some immigration has benefited the country. Other immigration has not. Rewarding illegality through taking a gamble that persons unknown who have arrived in London are among the good guys is an unacceptable risk IMHO.

[(Cllr) Colin Smith]

Well done Gareth, Roger, Tony and Richard if true.

It's good to see someone showing some principled leadership at long last on the subject.

Cllr Colin Smith

[Julian Melford]

Leaving aside the contentious topic of immigration, and of illegality (which I don't feel should be encouraged in the interest of looking 'hip' to Guardianistas'.

Most of the large number of illegals probably live in our cities that are over-populated, congested and will face problems with contention for housing and power supplies. I can't see what having large numbers of people adding to these problems will achieve. Dave got it right - Boris' four got it wrong.

[Tim Montgomerie]

I'll approach the AMs who voted for the amnesty in the hope that one will write an explanation for us.

[RoadToSmurfdom]

Well done Tony Arbour.

[Bishop Swine]

We need to come right out with what we are thinking and dam the interferance of the petty nay sayers of the centre. The BNP needs to be asorbed if we are hopeing the one nation consensus can be brought about in our life times. Is it not better to work with strong opinions and not against them. Most espically we need to control the knee jerk censorship of deeply held and felt viewpoints. To this end we need to cultavate freinds in the media. Most of all we need to reform the pack of the press. Much of the damage that is now being done to our econamy is down to the media as well as the need for short funded options to be "worked out" of the system. If the press cannot be made to work in favour of the nation something has gone horrible wrong

[London resident]

Many of the comments on this issue reveal very clearly that the people writing them have absolutely no knowledge of what they write. The fact is that NONE of the Conservative Assembly Members voted in favour of the amnesty proposed by the Green Party. People such as "Iain, October 9 2008, 19.11" really should take the trouble to understand what they are comenting on before they make their stupid comments.....

[Chris Ashley, left London already]

It is a total betrayal to the indigenous population of this country, and especially for Londoners for a single member to dare even mention amnesty. Immigration is the number one issue with the ordinary people of the country. Is the GLA mainly full of traitors? It seams the answer is yes.

To the traitors. Don't you understand the YOU are loosing power as well, left right and centre. If the population of London is non-white and non-English, then you will not be able to represent or to control them in the long run. You will be kicked out office by them, as they turn the knifes on you, without even bothering to say so much as thank you. Watch out you are running a very risk course, straight into the rocks of race riots, between all the competing races in London (except the English, who are sensibly leaving the powdered keg).

[Kirsty]

At least there are some real conservatives still out there I suppose.

[Roger Evans]

I opposed this Green motion for four reasons:

1. An amnesty without border controls will just incentivise more illegal entry. Strengthening controls is an essential precursor and it wasn't even mentioned by the Greens, Labour etc.

2. A blanket amnesty makes no distinction on the basis of contribution to the country. Of course there are deserving cases (Londoners all know some personally), but this measure would even include criminals - Lib Dem Mike Tuffrey also made this criticism during the debate, but he still voted in favour.

3. There is no way of identifying who has been here for four years, which is what the motion prposed. By definition the date of an illegal entry cannot be proved, and the Greens acceded this point.

4. To campaign against building on green belt and use of resources, yet to favour this measure as the Greens do is not just hypocrisy - it's free range, organic hypocrisy, with no artificial additives.

And just to be absolutely clear, No members of the Conservative Group voted in favour.

[Tim Montgomerie]

Thank you Roger.

[Jodie]

Do you know how many slaves in UK?
It is time we stop looking at Illegal immigrants as criminals.Yes,they broke law somewhere for coming here illegally ,but they are not the cause of our national misfortunes and they will never be .We British should stop been ignorant.We need to be tolerant.Let us appreciate the positive side of these immigrants .Do you think it is easy for someone to just desert their nation to come and stay here illegally?Think about it.let us support them to start contributing to our economic rather than starting on our doles,benefits,rather than paying " under world masters" ,instead of continuing been a slave in our community.
We owe them the right for them to be independent once again.when you work in our streets ,what I want to see are people coming out with happiness ,with aim to live and work together in harmony.
Please let us help them.Yes ,I know we are with good heart ,once again they made mistakes but if any member of your family made mistakes and was sent to prison ,will you accept them back ?Let us look at them and forgive them .Let us encourage them,let us accept them,let us help them ,let your hear to them ,listen to them ,they need us more than we need them.
It is your right,it is my right to stop this 20th century in the heart of Europe.

[Jodie]

WE need to stop this 20th century slavery in the heart of Europe.
Let us meet and discuss,meet with our religious leaders,community leaders,political leaders,business leaders.
Let us represent these " slaves" among us.
WE are demanding for Amnesty for ALL ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS .
Mayor you made a promise ,Labobour made this promise ,and Liberal Democrtic .
Is there any champion in you ?
Then go on Boris make your move ,if you get AMNESTY for the illegal immigrants ,then you are a mayor of people ,because London have the highest number of people working in the underground ,background as an illegal immigrants.
i wish you can surprise them with good news before the year runs out
C'mon Boris

[kosovo]

Im 10 years illegal immigrant in this country im lost i don,t know my name my life is shit i left my country when was a war in fucking kosovo thi all hapen becaus off this goverment any Help thankx

[anthony]

I came from jamaica in 2000 with no understanding of the uk. Unfortunate happened and I fell illigal even today. I did not get involved in illigal activities, I enrolled with the .............. university where I studied bsc degree in political science. If you are an illigal please try this route. thanks

[Viz]

Amazing...

Some people don't have a single right, they have no income, yet they go to university and they keep trying to asend their tragic existence WHILE some fat,ignorant , dumb and young from this country simply sit on their asses for the whole day, watch TV,live off the dole and from now and then they start whinging how illegal immigants are making their life harder