Quote Originally Posted by Furunculus View Post
the authoritarian tendancies of labour, necessary to achieve the 'liberal' paradise they seek:
I don't see anyone here claiming that NewLab are trying to create some sort of liberal paradise. They are an authoritarian party and I don't think that anyone could possibly contest that theory.

I've noted a lot of people who think that being more anti-immigration would win either Party a lot of votes from disgruntled people who have moved over to the BNP. This blog isn't so sure.
Every day during the campaign Populus asked 250 people what they recalled the Conservative party saying recently. Over 30% of people recalled the Conservative message on immigration after Michael Howard announcement at the end of January that the Conservatives would impose an annual limit on immigration. Apart from 3 days after the council tax announcement, it remained the most recalled message when people were asked about the Conservative party for the rest of January and February. In March it remained amongst the most recalled issues, but was topped for a while by opposing anti-terrorism legislation, sacking Howard Flight and cracking down on travellers. Once the election was actually called, on every single day throughout the whole of the campaign the most recalled Conservative message was anti-immigration. Immigration is indeed a very salient issue, and it completely swamped Conservative messages on health, taxes, policing and so on. At the end of the campaign Populus asked people to characterise this Conservative campaign which people had recalled as being almost wholly about immigration. The most popular options were negative and aggressive.
There is no denying that Immigration is a huge issue, and that more people want tighter Immigration laws, however it also cannot be denied that a campaign of picking on Immigrants is characterised as inherently aggressive.