McDonnell hits out at ‘cynical’ promises

LABOUR will not make “cynical” promises on reducing migrant numbers like the Tories have, shadow chancellor John McDonnell has insisted.

Mr McDonnell used a keynote address on Brexit to warn that migrants were not to blame for low pay and job insecurity which was the fault of an outdated economic model that needed to be replaced.

“Labour are not about to make cynical promises like the Conservatives on reducing migrant numbers, knowing full well they can’t be met on the scale, or time scale, with the methods they propose,” he said.

“It is not migrants to blame for low pay and insecurity at work, or the high cost of housing, it is the fail- ure of our whole economic model, which is not supplying the investment in work, or in housing, that people need. We have to change the model.”

Addressing concerns raised in the EU referendum about migration levels, the shadow chancellor said: “Labour’s policy has always been about managed migration, about what the economy needs and what society needs overall.

“What we experienced during the referendum ... people voted on a whole range of issues, one of which was their concern about the low standard of living.

“They actually looked at migration being exploited by employers and others to undermine that standard of living.”