Ex-PM warns over use of immigration in Brexit debate

TIMESLIVE

Former British Prime Minister John Major. File photo
Image by: TOBY MELVILLE / REUTERS

Former prime minister John Major warned against using immigration as a political football ahead of next month's referendum on British membership of the EU, saying it risked "fuelling prejudice".

The former Conservative leader, who wants Britain to stay in the bloc in the June 23 vote, said supporters of a so-called Brexit were peddling "absurd falsehoods" about how mass immigration would end if Britain left the European Union.

"We mustn't overlook genuine concerns, but these should be expressed with care, honesty and balance. Not in a manner that can raise fears or fuel prejudice," Major said in remarks released to the media.

The desire to stop hundreds of thousands of EU citizens coming to Britain each year has been a key element of the campaign to leave the bloc, with Nigel Farage's UK Independence Party making the point repeatedly.

Major appeared to be aiming his remarks at those Conservatives who are campaigning for Brexit alongside UKIP.

"As the Leave arguments implode one by one, some of the Brexit leaders morph into UKIP, and turn to their default position: immigration," Major said.

"This is their trump card. I urge them to take care, this is dangerous territory that -- if handled carelessly -- can open up long-term divisions in our society."

Britain's prime minister from 1990 to 1997, Major was due to speak to Oxford Univiersity students later Friday.

Fellow former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith, a Brexit supporter, warned Tuesday that staying in the EU meant more "uncontrolled migration" that would depress wages, push up house prices and put pressure on schools and health services.

Official figures show 617,000 people migrated to Britain in the year to September, 257,000 of them coming from the EU. Almost 300,000 people left in the same period.

New data from the Office for National Statistics on Thursday revealed that many more than 257,000 Europeans had registered for National Insurance numbers, which are needed to obtain work in Britain.

The ONS put the discrepancy down to short-term migration and stood by its official figures, saying NI numbers "are not a good indicator of long-term migration".

But Brexit campaigners accused the authorities of covering up the truth.

Immigration from within the EU "is out of control -- and cannot be controlled as long as we stay in the EU", said Priti Patel, an employment minister in Cameron's government who is backing Brexit.

Campaigners claimed that while one million EU citizens officially came to Britain between 2010 and 2015, the number of NI numbers issued was more than 2.2 million.