Today at their annual conference, the Labour Party voted to extend freedom of movement, despite promising to end it in their 2017 general election manifesto.
Delegates in Brighton voted overwhelmingly for a motion that calls, among other things, for the Labour party to:
- Defend the right of EU migrants to live and work in the UK under free movement rules
- Give the vote to all migrants in the UK
- Reject any immigration system based on quotas, caps, targets or incomes
- End policies that prevent some immigrants from claiming benefits
In an interview with the Guardian, Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott indicated that these proposals will be adopted as official party policy. She said, “Be assured, our plans for government include these provisions and a lot more.”
Responding to the vote, Mark Fletcher said, “In 2017 the Labour Party promised to the people of Bolsover that they would end freedom of movement when we leave the EU. Now we learn that they plan to extend it, breaking the promise that they made at the last general election.”
