Damian Green is the shadow minister (i.e. Conservative party spokesperson) on immigration. Although there are many problems with Britain's migrant-processing bureaucracy that he could concern himself with, Green is most often to be found giving anti-immigrant quotes to right-wing newspapers.
In October 2006 the Sun published a story accusing Muslims of vandalising a house that soldiers had planned to move in to, and of making threatening phone calls to the soldiers. The Sun later published a correction saying "no threatening calls were logged at Combermere Barracks from Muslims and police have been unable to establish if any faith or religious group was responsible for the incident." The original article featured damning quotes from Damian Green and another Tory MP, Philip Davis. Davis later apologised for his comments, saying "Newspapers and television media approach people every day and ask people their reactions to events they relate to you. Everybody makes their comments in good faith presuming that the story is true." Green has not apologised, and nor has he learnt about the honesty of the press.
The Express on June 20, 2007 reported misleadingly on the leather sofas, "designer shelving" and "10 showers and 10 toilets segregated for men and women" supposedly awaiting illegal immigrants in a camp near Calais planned to replace the old Sangatte holding camp closed in 2002. The BBC pointed out "The charities say they are already providing such services in the town, although not in one location, and have earmarked a site for the centre. [...] However, the authorities in Calais say it would not be like the original Sangatte because the proposed centre would not provide accommodation." The Express failed to mention that the new centre was not a holding camp and merely relocated existing provisions, asking Damian Green for a statement that concluded: "This latest revelation shows that the Government continues to fail to protect our borders", despite the fact that the centre was to be built in France.
An Express story on 4 December (now removed from their website but cached by Google) claimed "Migrants use 'joke' degrees to live in Britain", saying foreigners were taking degrees in theatre studies in an effort to remain in Britain. Green was quoted at length: "This is a late recognition of the chaos surrounding student visas. The important thing is to close this loophole without destroying hundreds of legitimate college courses." However the newspaper admitted that the chairman of the Migration Advisory Committee "said there was no evidence that immigrants were using qualifications from any of the organisations listed to get into Britain."
He also came up with a quote when the Express produced questionable claims under the headline "Each illegal immigrant to cost us £1 million" (at the same time contradicting Boris Johnson's idea of an amnesty for illegal immigrants). The figures were based on a report by anti-immigrant campaigners Migration Watch which assumed each immigrant family would be on benefits till the sole family wage-owner was 80 years old (4 years above the mean male life expectancy); this is despite government research suggesting immigrants brought a slight net benefit to the economy.
The Express reported in March 2009 "One in seven primary school pupils do not have English as their first language. The increased figure has prompted Tory immigration spokesman Damian Green to demand an annual limit on immigration." As Tabloid Watch noted, that has actually been Conservative policy since 2005.
In October 2009 he got his photo on a Daily Mail story despite never even being quoted in it. It's possible the paper's staff confused him with Andrew Green of anti-immigration pressure group Migration Watch. The article dubiously claimed (headline) "Migrant facing deportation wins right to stay in Britain... because he's got a cat"; the migrant's lawyer Barry O'Leary apparently "told the Sunday Telegraph that the cat was one detail among many in the case" used to show the immigrant had settled in the UK, but one of the judges commented on it so it became an easy hook for the story.
On 27 November 2008, Green was arrested "on suspicion of conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office and aiding and abetting, counselling or procuring misconduct in a public office". It was believed that he had made contact with a civil servant in the Home Office called Christopher Galley. Bob Quick, assistant commissioner in the Metropolitan Police in charge of the Green investigation, informed MPs what Galley had told him:
He [Galley] said Green offered to look out for a position for him but told him that, 'He wanted as much, how can I say, as much dirt on the Labour Party, the Labour Government, as possible. And so he wanted as much information to damage them as possible'. Galley also stated, 'Well, at the end of each meeting he always tends to say, "Yes I am looking, I'll try and find something, I'll put your name about", but nothing ever seems to happen'.Green was never charged.
Sir Andrew Green is the chair of Migration Watch, which campaigns against immigration. It claims on its website to be a "think tank", says "genuine refugees should be welcomed", and praises "many immigrants [who] have made a valuable contribution to our society in terms both of skills and diversity". Andrew Green is often quoted in newspapers and news media (not just right-wing ones; the BBC is a frequent consumer of his utterances) condemning everything about government immigration policy, frequently alongside remarks from Damian Green, but never defending refugees or praising the contribution of immigrants.
Many people have questioned whether Green is a racist, and whether his stated reasons for opposing immigration are his true ones. Officially, Migration Watch is only worried that there may be too many people and that immigration is insufficiently controlled: "There must be a serious question as to whether we can successfully integrate immigrants at such a rate."
(Guardian January 7, 2007)
There's certainly an argument that the government has failed to increase funding and support for public services to match the influx of immigrants, but do the following sound like complaints about a shortage of doctors or school places?
"Our society is being fundamentally changed against the clearly expressed wishes of the public"
(Express August 22, 2008)
"The numbers of migrants are now so great as to change the whole nature of our society"
"In central London primary schools, only 20 per cent of pupils are now classified as 'white British'."
(Mail October 22, 2009)
"The working class has been the most affected but it has been silenced by the forces of political correctness."
(Express January 3, 2009)
"One has to ask, too, whether there could be a political aspect. Immigrant communities are predominantly Labour voters. If they had all been budding Conservatives, one wonders whether the situation would have been allowed to continue for so long."
(Mail March 31, 2008)
"mass immigration under this government was a deliberate policy concealed from the public, and especially from the white working class whose lives and neighbourhoods have been most affected."
(Mail October 27, 2009)
He's said time and time again that he doesn't care about EU immigrants: "The big issue remains the very large numbers coming to the UK from outside the EU"
(Express February 18, 2009)
"The rapid rise in the Muslim population is just one way in which mass immigration promoted, even encouraged, by this Government has affected the whole nature of our society."
(Express December 14,2009)
The Express reported on October 23, 2009 "Aside from brave mavericks such as Frank Field, Nicholas Soames and Andrew Green, the chairman of the Migration Watch think tank, there have been no mainstream political figures willing to speak up for the widely held view that immigration is out of control and the British national identity under threat."
This raises two questions. First, are right-wing anti-immigration campaigners commenting on newspaper stories without finding out if they're true or false? And secondly, are they hiding their true reasons for opposing immigration?
"And secondly, are they hiding their true reasons for opposing immigration?"
ReplyDeleteOoh, those scary, scary "true reasons" ...