Labour’s open door

JUST as truth is the first casualty of war, the first patients to limp into the dressing station during a general election campaign are candour and transparency.

Nowhere is this lack of openness more egregious than on immigration – as yesterday plainly showed.

First came Home Secretary Priti Patel, with a promise that the Conservatives would cut net migration over the next Parliament.

She couldn’t say precisely how, or by how many. There were no targets (previous ones having been missed so humiliatingly). There were few details of the points-based system intended to achieve the cut.

And she articulated no policy on the million or so migrants who are already here illegally.

But for all the vagueness, there’s no doubt the Tories are genuinely committed to controlling and reducing migration.

Labour, it seems (not for the first time), wants to throw open Britain’s doors to all comers.

Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said yesterday that her party would not only keep free movement rights for EU nationals after Brexit, but also extend them to migrants and their families from around the world.

According to a Tory analysis, this would lead to an increase in net migration of 840,000 every year. That figure is hotly disputed but, even if it’s half right, the pressure on public services and housing from such an influx would be unbearable.

The Mail has the utmost respect and admiration for the enterprise and hard work of migrants who have come here across the generations. They have enhanced the nation.

But if schools and hospitals are not to be overwhelmed, numbers have to be controlled. Only one party wants to exercise that control, and that’s the Conservatives.

Immigration won’t end with Brexit, nor should it. But we must be able to decide for ourselves who should – and who should not – be allowed to live in our country.