One thing’s for certain, Tony wouldn’t have stood for it. The shambolic bungling of today’s “big speech” by shadow immigration spokesperson, Chris Bryant lacked the smooth running of a Blair-era media operation. But Labour getting a handle on employers’ preferences for East European workers from a recognisably labour movement point-of-view would never have passed muster back then either.

To be honest, I’m not interested in the media’s mischief-making about first and second drafts of Chris’s speech. Anecdotally – and reinforced by Channel 4 News features on it last night – it is true that Tesco and Next are hiring in East European workers, and often in places where the supply of labour is plentiful. In both cases warehouse working is involved. Continue reading →