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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Landlord checks for illegal immigrants risk 'everyday racism', says Labour | Landlord checks for illegal immigrants risk 'everyday racism', says Labour |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Government plans to force landlords to carry out extra checks on a tenant’s immigration status risk “everyday racism” and could lead to widespread discrimination, Labour has said. | |
| The immigration bill, which will be debated by MPs on Tuesday, would make renting out accommodation to illegal immigrants a criminal offence. | The immigration bill, which will be debated by MPs on Tuesday, would make renting out accommodation to illegal immigrants a criminal offence. |
| The shadow home secretary, Andy Burnham, said the plans risk making Britain’s housing market a “hostile environment for tenants with foreign-sounding names”. | The shadow home secretary, Andy Burnham, said the plans risk making Britain’s housing market a “hostile environment for tenants with foreign-sounding names”. |
| Writing in the Independent on Sunday, Burnham described the bill as “disproportionate, divisive, deceitful”. | Writing in the Independent on Sunday, Burnham described the bill as “disproportionate, divisive, deceitful”. |
| It includes the right to rent scheme, which was trialled in the West Midlands last year and requires landlords to check the immigration status of prospective tenants, including demanding to see their visa or passport. | It includes the right to rent scheme, which was trialled in the West Midlands last year and requires landlords to check the immigration status of prospective tenants, including demanding to see their visa or passport. |
| According to the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, more than 40% of landlords who took part in the pilot said the scheme had made them less likely to rent a property to someone who did not have a British passport, while more than a quarter said they were reluctant to engage with people with foreign names or accents. | According to the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, more than 40% of landlords who took part in the pilot said the scheme had made them less likely to rent a property to someone who did not have a British passport, while more than a quarter said they were reluctant to engage with people with foreign names or accents. |
| Burnham said the bill “seeks to propagate immigration myths rather than slay them”. He said: “In practice, it could end up making Britain a more hostile place for anyone with a foreign-sounding name.” | |
| Society has moved on since the 1960s when landlords displayed discriminatory signs in their windows, Burnham added. “But the new document checks could become the modern equivalent of the ‘no dogs, no blacks, no Irish’ signs and, by being more insidious, such casual discrimination will be far harder to challenge.” | |
| He also claimed the plan contradicts David Cameron’s speech at last week’s Conservative party conference, in which the prime minister highlighted the problem of young jobseekers from black or Asian backgrounds repeatedly having their CVs rejected. | |
| Burnham said: “If he truly believes what he was saying, why on earth is he about to legislate to make the same everyday racism far more likely to happen in the housing market?” | Burnham said: “If he truly believes what he was saying, why on earth is he about to legislate to make the same everyday racism far more likely to happen in the housing market?” |