Race chief warns political leaders
The chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality today warned that political leaders are running the risk of inflaming racial tensions during the election campaign.
Trevor Phillips is concerned that some of the atmosphere surrounding the campaign is becoming sour, fractious, and brittle.
He told The Times newspaper: “I’m probably the most worried person in the country at the moment.”
Introducing controlled immigration and tackling problems caused by traveller camps have featured heavily in the Conservative Party’s election campaign to date; while a controversial Labour election poster depicted Conservative leader Michael Howard as Fagin.
These subjects are not off-limits as far as the race relations chief is concerned, but he is worried that they are being debated “in ways which create tensions and conflicts which are not legitimate”.
He said political leaders needed to understand that “what they intend and what they think they are saying is not necessarily what other people are hearing”.
His warning comes as a Conservative candidate admitted to doctoring photographs to highlight his party’s tough stance on immigration.
Ed Matts, who is standing for the Conservatives in Dorset South – Labour’s most marginal seat – changed a photograph of him standing alongside Ann Widdecombe at a demonstration against the deportation of an asylum-seeker family for his campaign literature.
Mr Matts replaced the messages on the placards being held by himself and Ms Widdecombe at the protest from a picture of the family and the words “let them stay”, to “controlled immigration” and “not chaos and inhumanity”.
Health Secretary John Reid has written to Michael Howard calling for Mr Matts to be sacked.
He wrote: “To pose in one picture in support of an asylum seeker, and then doctor the same picture for a political stunt is sick. If you fail to act then you will have sent out the message your candidates can do anything they like to fuel a wholly negative campaign.”
On Sunday, Mr Howard accused Tony Blair of “pussyfooting around” the issue of immigration, describing it as “out of control”.
He said: “It’s not racist to talk about immigration. It’s not racist to criticise the system. It’s not racist to want to limit the numbers. It’s just plain common sense.”
But Labour Cabinet Minister Peter Hain condemned the Conservatives for “scurrilous, right-wing, ugly tactics”.
The Leader of the House of Commons told GMTV: “Michael Howard is just shamelessly using this issue to try and scare people back into voting Conservative without proposing any workable solution.”
