CCHQ Turns Up The Heat on Immigration
With the polls tightening and the Tories now just 2% ahead in key marginals, CCHQ has been forced into a corner and has approved a new message on immigration which is to be used by candidates on literature and the doorsteps. Tim Montgomerie has the full story over at ConHome.
The overall Tory policy on immigration remains the same, it’s just that a clear line has now been approved that has been deemed as ‘safe’ to say out loud. The idea of reducing immigration from the current hundreds of thousands to tens of thousands is a good idea. Imposing annual quotas on immigration was Michael Howard’s downfall at the last election. The Tories remain committed to a national border protection police whose main task will be to crack down on illegal immigration which can someimes be a much bigger problem than immigration itself because of the associated crime and gang warfare that goes with it.
Clearly CCHQ are trying to do everything they can to improve the party’s position in the polls. Will it work? I don’t know and to be perfectly honest I would not be surprised if we get to May 7th and find a Tory government, but with only a slender majority of perhaps less than ten. If we have a hung parliament, I think the Conservatives would be the largest party and therefore Cameron would be PM and then I think we would see another election in October in order to try and get a more decisive result.
Clearly, the fight is on and as I have always said, Labour are always a force to be reckoned with. Yes, they have a substantially reduced grass roots base, but never underestimate Labour’s ability to bring people out on the streets from nowhere come polling day. What Labour appear to be doing is focussing their campaigns very closely. For example, Sandra Osborne, the incumbent in Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock has about 15 campaign team members canvassing with her on a weekly basis. That’s a similar level to many other Tory target seats, so Labour is not so dead and buried across the board as some would suggest.
If it’s money that’s going to win the election and the ability to spend on glossy leaflets, etc. then it’s the Tories who will win. In the last year, local associations alone raised a staggering £25m, and that’s before you consider central office funding and Ashcroft’s target seat funding.
However, if it’s the size of campaign teams, policy and ability to get the vote out on May 6th, then it’s anybody’s Downing Street.
