What will decide the outcome of the EU referendum? Clearly, those who favour staying in believe it’s the economy, stupid.
But those pushing for Brexit are in the process of coining a new political slogan. For them, it’s migration, stupid!
Look at the two best-selling national newspapers that are urging British voters to vote leave. Their editors have tended to give migration top billing while ignoring the economic argument. Tuesday’s issues were a classic example.
“Cameron’s migration deception” was the Daily Mail’s front page headline. Its story, based on a claim by the prime minister’s former aide, Steve Hilton, said David Cameron was warned by civil servants four years ago that his “tens of thousands” immigration target was “impossible” to achieve while Britain remained in the EU.
Hilton’s article appeared on spread that also included a news story based on a Guardian article written by Unite general secretary Len McCluskey in which he admitted that immigration had been “a gigantic experiment at the expense of ordinary workers.”
A following spread was led by an article accusing chancellor George Osborne of scaremongering about job losses. Then came a leading article, based on the Hilton claims, in which the Mail claimed Cameron had been guilty of cynicism in making his forecast of migration numbers.
And a couple of pages further on, Richard Littlejohn devoted his column to a plea for Brexit. His major argument was about sovreignty, but one section also dealt with migration.
The Sun splashed on a piece about “a gang of 300 stone-throwing migrants” storming the port of Calais in an attempt to board British-bound ferries. The headline: “Let us in before you vote out.”
Inside was a spread, “Backdoor to Britain”, a story about corrupt officials in Romania selling fake EU citizenship documents for £1,000 to Russian and Ukrainian migrants.
A second spread led with a story about 100 “small firm bosses” calling for Brexit. But a third spread gave Cameron a voice, through an interview with the paper’s poliical editor, to urge readers to remain.
On its leader page was a piece by US economist Irwin Stelzer - and long-time confidant of Rupert Murdoch - who argued that Britain would be able to trade successfully outside the EU.
And the leader itself contended that Cameron was working to allow Turkey to join the EU and thus open the door to 80m Turkish citizens getting access to Europe.
The Daily Express, the paper that has made a fetish of complaining about immigration, carried an op-ed article by Ian Botham, who made it clear that his opposition to the EU is based largely on inward migration.
The Express front page article was about a claim by “one of Britain’s top retirement experts” that “remaining in the EU will be catastrophic for both state and private pensions.” That was also the subject of its editorial. And a spread was devoted to “a call to arms” by Boris Johnson.
By contrast, the Daily Telegraph, which has come out firmly in favour of Brexit, ran ran a leading article setting out its reasons for wanting Britain to quit the EU, which stuck to the economic argument. Immigration was not mentioned.
