Immigration dominates UK election agenda

LONDON - Britain's opposition Conservative Party hoisted immigration to the top of the pre-election agenda on Sunday with a pledge of tough controls.

The policy drew accusations it was playing the "race card" to reverse dire opinion polls.

The Conservatives, trailing Tony Blair's Labour Party with an election expected in May, promised an annual limit on immigrants, a quota for asylum seekers and an Australian-style points system for work permits.

Labour acknowledged "fair immigration" was a real concern to the public but said its rivals' sums on spending did not add up.

The opposition Liberal Democrats accused the Conservatives of lurching to the right to get out of a political rut.

"Some people say this is racist. It's not. It's common sense," wrote Conservative leader Michael Howard in a newspaper article outlining his policies.

"There are literally millions of people in other countries who want to come and live here. Britain cannot take them all."

Many European Union officials privately acknowledge the need for immigrants to counter a declining and ageing population, fill skills shortages and help defuse a looming pensions crisis.

But anti-immigration parties have tapped into voters' concern over over-stretched public services and public opposition to migrants, particularly of Muslim origin.

The mood has hardened in some countries since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States and the 2004 Madrid bombings.

Home Office Minister Hazel Blears said Labour supported "controlled migration" and would unveil its plans on immigration in coming days. She attacked the Conservatives' funding plans but did not unpick the substance of their policies.

"These issues should be discussed, not swept under the carpet, not covered with the race card. But actually how do we get a firm but fair immigration system?" she told Sky News.

The Liberal Democrats said its fellow opposition party was resorting to "hard core policies" to get out of a rut.

"It's another indication of the desperation within the Conservative Party as the general election looms large," party leader Charles Kennedy told BBC Televison.

A Sunday Times/ITV poll, carried out by YouGov, showed a new Conservative plan to cut waste and taxes had not won support.

The poll put Labour on 34 per cent, the Conservatives 31 per cent and the Liberal Democrats 25 per cent.

That is enough for Blair to maintain a huge majority in parliament under Britain's first-past-the-post electoral system.

Blair's popularity has suffered since the US-led war in Iraq, but the Conservatives also backed the conflict. The main beneficiaries have been the anti-war Liberal Democrats.

Forty-two per cent of voters said they trusted Labour most over the economy, twice as many as for the Conservatives.

The Conservatives were in government for 18 years before Blair led Labour to victory in 1997, partly by adopting many free-market economic policies once associated with former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

The Conservatives have also been squeezed on the Right by fringe parties, such as the UK Independence Party which opposes the EU and did well in European parliament elections.

- REUTERS