Labour's bogeyman is immigration, and it's not going away

THE Labour Party Conference took place this week, with the usual platitudes and feel-good anecdotes to inspire the party's natural supporters.

- Esther Krakue

And who can blame them? After a week of "freebie" scandals and a leak investigation into bad briefings, any good press for Labour right now is like finding an oasis in the desert.

Despite the constant talk of "joy", "optimism" and "hope", members of the British public are still wondering just how joyful, optimistic or hopeful Labour thinks most pensioners are feeling right now. Especially with the prospect of freezing to death this winter.

And what little talk there was of policy at the conference lacked any real substance. Even after a few days, I still cannot tell you what Labour plans to do for the country other than eventually "turn the corner".

OK? But, for most people, the priority was to see what Labour had to say about the country's number one issue: immigration.

And on that point, the Prime Minister deserves some credit.

He not only mentioned it (a very low bar indeed), but he also acknowledged concerns about immigration were "legitimate". He committed his Government to not only reduce net migration but also lessen our economic dependency on it - and even went as far as to say that "there are plenty of examples of apprenticeships going down at the very same time that visa applications for the same skills are going up. And so, we will get tough on this".