Douglas Carswell

Why I've changed my mind about the Immigration Bill

I've changed my mind. Having added my name to Nigel Mills' amendment to the Immigration Bill, I am not going to vote for it this Thursday.

Don't get me wrong. Nigel is a magnificent MP who has done wonders with this. And I feel as strongly opposed to uncontrolled immigration from Romania or Bulgaria as ever. In fact, more so than before.

But it's just that this is all .... well ... blah blah. It is well meaning, but ultimately pointless displacement activity. A kind of Parliamentary grandstanding.

If we want to restrict the free movement of people into Britain from the European Union, then there is only one thing we can do; Leave. 

No amendment. No motion of the House of Commons. No ministerial initiative or decree will change that. If you belong to a club that has a rule that says there is to be free movement, you had better leave the club if you don't want it.

To be sure, there are all sorts of changes we can make to our welfare system to make it less accessible to those who have not contributed. We can tinker round the edges. But to stop uncontrolled immigration from Europe, we have to quit the EU. Let's not bull with the British people.

At Bloomberg a year ago, David Cameron made a radical promise. He would seek to renegotiate the terms of our membership, and then hold an In / Out vote. Nothing we do must make the prospect of an In / Out vote less likely.

Having spent all my adult life campaigning to get Britain out of the EU, perhaps we Outters need to grow up if we are to achieve our goal.  The whole point of Bloomberg is that we can now win.  The restoration of British independence, the repudiation of the Treaty of Rome, is a realistic option.  But we need a little discipline to make it happen.

On Thursday, those decent, patriotic MPs behind Nigel's excellent amendment should not press ahead with it. They should join our campaign for Britain's withdrawal from the EU instead.

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