Cameron’s showpiece Bill ends in a fiasco

UNVEILED by David Cameron as the centrepiece of the Queen’s Speech last May, the Immigration Bill was supposed to boost morale on the Tory backbenches and address public concern over the imminent lifting of border controls on Romanian and Bulgarian workers. The legislation contained sensible measures to limit migrants’ access to the NHS and council housing.

But, instead of becoming a political triumph for the Prime Minister, it rapidly descended into a shambles.

First, the Bill had to be delayed until after January 1 to thwart an ‘illegal’ rebel amendment that would have kept the restrictions on Romanians and Bulgarians in place. Then, this week, No 10 repeatedly blasted itself in the foot over a second Tory backbench amendment, tabled by Dominic Raab, that would have stopped foreign criminals citing their human right to a family life to avoid deportation. Downing Street lurched wildly between saying the plan was unlawful, to insisting Mr Cameron supported the principle, but not the exact wording.

Finally, when it became clear around 100 Tory rebels still supported Mr Raab, a floundering Mr Cameron yesterday ordered his ministers to abstain! Last night Mr Raab’s amendment was defeated by 241 votes to 97 when Labour – citing a need to obey the European Court of Human Rights – trooped slavishly through the No lobby with the Liberal Democrats. But the abiding memory of this debacle will be the worrying lack of leadership by ministers and the rank incompetence of the Downing Street machine.

It is no way to run a country – and it certainly won’t help win over an electorate which, in a poll released this week, made immigration its number one priority.