BBC survey exposes government scaremongering over Bulgarians and Romanians

A new survey has exposed the lies that recent scaremongering about immigration has been built on. 

The data comes as politicians launch their campaigns for this spring’s local elections. 

There are nearly 2,500 council seats at stake.

The BBC survey which was published this week suggested that in the current recession most said they would make sure of a job offer before travelling.

Ukip has been stoking racism by claiming that up to 29 million Bulgarians and Romanians are about to flood into Britain as EU rules change. It reached this figure by combining the entire population of both countries. The survey published this week suggested that a more realistic figure is 145,000. 

Yet the Tory right are pushing immigration as an issue.

Labour’s response has been handwringing over “mistakes” in allowing Eastern Europeans in while it was in government. 

Labour MP Diane Abbott is worried about the way the mainstream parties are behaving. 

She said she was worried about “‘dog whistle’ politics on immigration where the text is fine but the underlying message is one that is not so fine.”

She warned Labour, “There is a danger of a downward spiral.”

Unfortunately there is little sign that the Labour leadership will take any notice.