Has his 'British Jobs For British Workers ploy backfired?
Gordon Browns team are this weekend firefighting a growing backlash against his cheesy 'British Jobs' conference speech in the face of a concerted onslaught by the media.
The BBC, Observer and Murdoch papers seem to have belatedly woken up to the realisation that this wholly odious promise was in fact what we in politics call a 'dog whistle' - saying something that has a special resonance with one sector of the electorate, in this case traditional Labour voters in areas where the BNP have been winning support.
Keith Vaz, a former Labour minister for Europe who is now chairman of the Commons home affairs select committee, said in Parliament: "I worry about that [Gordon Brown's] statement. "It lacks credible arguments, and some have suggested that it appears to amount to little more than employment apartheid. "It assumes that foreign workers are somehow stealing jobs from United Kingdom workers, an idea for which there is absolutely no evidence."
All the evidence is that the reason so many immigrant workers come here is because British people aren't applying for the jobs that exist.
And as a quick scout round the bars, clubs, shops and Hotels of Torbay will demonstrate in this area at least the immigrants are more than willing to take up the jobs left vacant by 'British Workers' many of whom appear happy to not work at all.
Immigrants aren't getting jobs here because they are better trained or qualified (talk to any of the 10,000 junior Doctors, and 3,000 newly trained midwives looking for jobs right now) but because they are prepared to do work that many of us Brits don't want to.
So promising to spend even more taxpayers money on training 7.5m 'British' workers is another red herring designed to get Brown out of trouble.
As I have said before, if we are really keen to get more British people off benefits and into work the right answer isn't to incite resentment against those who do want to get on and better themselves, it is to do more to encourage some of our many feckless, aimless youngsters to have some self-respect and personal ambition of their own.
The BBC, Observer and Murdoch papers seem to have belatedly woken up to the realisation that this wholly odious promise was in fact what we in politics call a 'dog whistle' - saying something that has a special resonance with one sector of the electorate, in this case traditional Labour voters in areas where the BNP have been winning support.
Keith Vaz, a former Labour minister for Europe who is now chairman of the Commons home affairs select committee, said in Parliament: "I worry about that [Gordon Brown's] statement. "It lacks credible arguments, and some have suggested that it appears to amount to little more than employment apartheid. "It assumes that foreign workers are somehow stealing jobs from United Kingdom workers, an idea for which there is absolutely no evidence."
All the evidence is that the reason so many immigrant workers come here is because British people aren't applying for the jobs that exist.
And as a quick scout round the bars, clubs, shops and Hotels of Torbay will demonstrate in this area at least the immigrants are more than willing to take up the jobs left vacant by 'British Workers' many of whom appear happy to not work at all.
Immigrants aren't getting jobs here because they are better trained or qualified (talk to any of the 10,000 junior Doctors, and 3,000 newly trained midwives looking for jobs right now) but because they are prepared to do work that many of us Brits don't want to.
So promising to spend even more taxpayers money on training 7.5m 'British' workers is another red herring designed to get Brown out of trouble.
As I have said before, if we are really keen to get more British people off benefits and into work the right answer isn't to incite resentment against those who do want to get on and better themselves, it is to do more to encourage some of our many feckless, aimless youngsters to have some self-respect and personal ambition of their own.
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