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Andy Burnham: Labour was 'in denial' over immigration
24 May 2010Labour leadership candidate Andy Burnham said today that a failure to address concerns over immigration may have contributed to his party's General Election defeat.
The former health secretary, who earlier highlighted his "ordinary upbringing" as a way to win back disgruntled Labour supporters, claimed the party had been "in denial" about the issue.
His comments came after former Cabinet minister David Blunkett announced he was nominating Mr Burnham for the leadership, saying he believed he would "widen the field" and "provide a genuine debate".
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mr Burnham said: "We were in denial. We were behind the issue all the time, and myths were allowed to develop. There's still an ambivalence among some in Labour about discussing immigration. I've been accused of dog-whistle politics for doing so.
"But it was the biggest doorstep issue in constituencies where Labour lost. People aren't racist, but they say it has increased tension, stopped them getting access to housing and lowered their wages."
He also warned that the tough new expenses rules could make family life more "dysfunctional" and risked driving talented people, particularly women, away from politics.
Yesterday, the leadership candidates sought to highlight what marks them out from their rivals.
Diane Abbott played on her position as the only black or female contender, saying the other hopefuls "could have run in the 1950s".
Mr Burnham drew attention to his northern roots and "ordinary upbringing", insisting: "My background is different."
And veteran left-winger John McDonnell reiterated his call for British troops to be withdrawn from Afghanistan - challenging his rivals to adopt his stance.
They were speaking as former Labour leader Lord Kinnock came out in support of Ed Miliband, telling the Observer that he had the "X-factor" needed to bring voters back to Labour.
Meanwhile, David Miliband enjoyed a massive lead among voters in a newspaper poll.
Along with former schools secretary Ed Balls, the four MPs are battling to be elected Labour leader in September.
A YouGov survey for The Sunday Times showed David Miliband has 23% support among voters but surprisingly put Ms Abbott in second place on 9%, with Ed Miliband on 8%, Mr Balls 6%, Mr Burnham 4%, and Mr McDonnell 2%.
Reader views (20)
Malcom, London . . . . You made my day . . . just a small taste of what the Obama Administration has brought to the U.S. If you DARE to disagree with any policy or policies, you are a racists . . . illegal immigration is killing us and the one State (Arizona) that stood up to this Administration gets sued by Obama's Attorney General. The illegals drag the American Flag on the ground and hoists the flag of Mexico from their homes. I'm not sure we will survive. I'm praying for you Brits.
- Cindy Baumhover, Iowa, USA, 13/09/2010 20:17
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"The main reason the 'anti war leaderships contestants' were silent in Parliament during the run up to the war is that both Ed Milliband and Ed Balls only entered Parliament in 2005 2 years after the invasion.- Richard, LONDON"
So, they were active in the anti-war movement before that were they? Should be easy enough to demonstrate.
- Rogan, Irving, 24/05/2010 19:11
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Get foreigners out of my country and back to 1950 and you have my Vote.
- Davey_bouy, Chertsey, 24/05/2010 19:10
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This man is absolutely correct ,if he had listened to the BNP as the Lib/Con did they would have won our Vote,even if they are not doing whats required now they are in,like all Governments.
- Davey_bouy, Chertsey, 24/05/2010 18:57
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The only reason Labour managed to hang on to many London seats was due to the imported vote. I visited ilford today and every race under th sun was visible on the streets. Very inspiring in a way but we are a small Island. There were many children and old people form over seas. how can our NHS and education cope. We must have a strict quota system, in fact I should say its a case of house full already.
As to the labour leadership, this is the old guard. They have been part of a government that has failed in every respect. They need to miss a generation.
- ALAN., ENGLAND., 24/05/2010 17:15
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Diane Abbot has done nothing for London - she sends her son to a fee paying school. The local schools aren't good enough for her son. She could have done much for the local black community as far as education was concerned but didn't.
As for immigration - this country has a history of (mostly) welcoming incomers, but we are now overwhelmed with too many coming from newly admitted EU countries - do Franch and Germany have the same problems? Labour is anti the indigenous population and everything English.
- vicki, Stoke Newington, London, 24/05/2010 16:18
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It strikes me that no Labour MP who was part of the previous Government stands the remotest chance of persuading the electorate of their bona fides. Labour need to find someone from the next generation.
- James Elliott, Eastbourne UK, 24/05/2010 14:59
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"In denial" - is that the new phrase for "lying" in Labour circles now?
- Malcolm, London, 24/05/2010 13:47
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The discredited Labour Party was in denial over everything .
- gilmas, paris france, 24/05/2010 12:19
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As with the anti war leadership contestants they were very silent during the run up to the war yet all of a sudden were always against it.
- Duncan Walker, Ex Peckham now Thailand, 24/05/2010 08:29
The main reason the 'anti war leaderships contestants' were silent in Parliament during the run up to the war is that both Ed Milliband and Ed Balls only entered Parliament in 2005 2 years after the invasion.
- Richard, LONDON, 24/05/2010 11:03
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By its mass immigration policies, the Labour government has given even newly arrived communities a false sense of British heritage. Many immigrants and their descendants have fiercely attached roots to their heritage, culture, traditions and countries back home. Yet these same people become fiercely aggressive and resort to calling indigenous people racist, if they display similar attachment and sense of place for their own land here Britain. Denying Britons a right to their own heritage has now become a knee jerk response from some uncertain migrants, insecure in their own identity. Denying Britons their historical roots to the place while claiming exactly the same to their own places of origin is just sad and confused.
As Andy Burnham and others in his party now belatedly admit, there are problems on so many levels about the effects of (mass) immigration, of which denial was one of the biggest contributing factors.
- J Randall, London, 24/05/2010 10:52
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The only thing these wretches are sorry for is that they did not manage to import enough votes to save their slimy skins !
- Andy Woodhead, London, ENGLAND, 24/05/2010 10:24
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They were not "in denial"
It was deliberate Socialist policy to increase immigration as much as possible.
80% of new immigrants vote Labour.
Rub the Tories noses in it.
Destroy the Engish, who have a tendency to vote Tory, in their own towns and rely on the Glaswegians to chase out any who get to Scotland.
Utter cynicism on a cosmic scale in an administration dominated by Scots.
- Alan, Llandrindod Wells Wales, 24/05/2010 10:01
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Arrogance before the election, contrition afterwards? Pathetic!
'Diane Abbott played on her position as the only black or female contender,'
Playing the race card, that didn't take long then.
- Frank, Home Counties, England, 24/05/2010 09:53
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Please get real, Labours policy on immigration, was based on importing what they saw as natural voters to shore up the pension funds of the aging population that Gordon Brown robbed.
It was never meant to be anything else.
- Ian B, Reading, 24/05/2010 09:21
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Mass, virtually uncontrolled, immigration was visited first on the working class,
& NuLabour & its allies in the BBC jeered at complainants as "racists".
Now middle class workers find themselves in competition with immigrants,
who are prepared to undercut them. The magnet for cheap immigrant labour
includes free education (including religious "faith" schools), free NHS, social housing, benefits for the extended family & so on.
If the USA offered British workers a similar hike in their standard of living
at no cost, the UK would be half empty.
The Labour party is contaminated by international socialism & population
exchange is part of that agenda.
Interestingly, the millions of immigrants & their progeny leave no "carbon footprints" - one of Labour's main excuses for restricting our choices, raising
taxes & giving billions of our money to our trade rivals.
Can the present government help the nation ?
I doubt it.
- The Convenient Truth, Reading, England, 24/05/2010 09:20
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Oh spare us all this "mea culpa" rhetoric. Why didn't he mention this to his beloved leader when he was in power? Gordon Brown called a life long Labour supporter a bigot because she dared voice her concerns about immigration. She did not even criticize the policy, she just voiced her concerns.
- PATRICIA, LONDON, 24/05/2010 09:12
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I had an 'ordinary' working class upbringing, but even those politicians who had the same upbringing as me soon seem to forget where they came from, which is why none of them have the guts to confront the immigration issue. they are all NIMBYs, so aren't bothered when it doesn't affect them personally.
- Sue, Kent, 24/05/2010 08:31
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Why did this third rate yes man not speak up during his parties Governance about his parties refusal to talk about immigration ? As with the anti war leadership contestants they were very silent during the run up to the war yet all of a sudden were always against it. Do these clowns think that all of a sudden we will believe they are telling us the truth for a change. After 13 years of Zanu Nu Lab smoke, mirrors lies and deception nobody with an ounce of intelligence believes a word these morons utter!
They are fighting for who wants to be captain of the Titanic. Whoever wins makes not one bit of difference to anybody!
- Duncan Walker, Ex Peckham now Thailand, 24/05/2010 08:29
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Northern roots???Gordon Brown is a Scot and was a disaster.What on earth does ones birthplace matter?"My background is different".Not when it came to working the expenses system to his advantage it wasn't.He used/abused that system with the rest of them suggesting early payment was needed or he risked divorce.
- paula DOFF, Filey UK, 24/05/2010 08:05
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