This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/may/13/gordon-brown-tories-powellite-over-immigration
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Gordon Brown: Conservatives close to being 'Powellite' on immigration | Gordon Brown: Conservatives close to being 'Powellite' on immigration |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Gordon Brown has accused the Tories of adopting Enoch Powell-style rhetoric on immigration in their efforts to fight off advances by Ukip. | Gordon Brown has accused the Tories of adopting Enoch Powell-style rhetoric on immigration in their efforts to fight off advances by Ukip. |
| The former prime minister claimed the Tories had become "very close to being Powellite" on immigration policies as they hardened their stance on Europe and welfare and performed a series of U-turns including on alcohol pricing in a shift to the right of British politics. | The former prime minister claimed the Tories had become "very close to being Powellite" on immigration policies as they hardened their stance on Europe and welfare and performed a series of U-turns including on alcohol pricing in a shift to the right of British politics. |
| Giving his first major Labour party speech since leaving Downing Street in May 2010, Brown unveiled his party's campaign against Scottish independence by aggressively distancing Labour from the Tories, its main partner in the pro-UK Better Together coalition. | Giving his first major Labour party speech since leaving Downing Street in May 2010, Brown unveiled his party's campaign against Scottish independence by aggressively distancing Labour from the Tories, its main partner in the pro-UK Better Together coalition. |
| In an effort to bolster Labour's message to its core voters and placate its critics in the trade union movement, who are unnerved by its alliance with the Tories in Better Together, Brown said only Labour was capable of protecting the UK's social institutions against both the Tories and the Scottish National party. | In an effort to bolster Labour's message to its core voters and placate its critics in the trade union movement, who are unnerved by its alliance with the Tories in Better Together, Brown said only Labour was capable of protecting the UK's social institutions against both the Tories and the Scottish National party. |
| He claimed the SNP were obsessed by the "dogma of separation" and prepared to damage Scotland's wider, longer-term interests to achieve that. | He claimed the SNP were obsessed by the "dogma of separation" and prepared to damage Scotland's wider, longer-term interests to achieve that. |
| Alex Salmond, the first minister, wanted an independent Scotland to keep using the British pound while having no control over interest rates or monetary policy, and give up the UK's "pooling" of resources to support Scotland's heavy pensions burden, he said. | Alex Salmond, the first minister, wanted an independent Scotland to keep using the British pound while having no control over interest rates or monetary policy, and give up the UK's "pooling" of resources to support Scotland's heavy pensions burden, he said. |
| Turning on the Tories, Brown asked: "Where are the positive proposals about the future of the union? [The] one thing they're alone interested in is our relationship with the EU, driven by Ukip as we know. A party which was once pro-Europe is now anti-Europe, a party which was once anti-Powellite on immigration is now becoming very close to being Powellite on that issue. | Turning on the Tories, Brown asked: "Where are the positive proposals about the future of the union? [The] one thing they're alone interested in is our relationship with the EU, driven by Ukip as we know. A party which was once pro-Europe is now anti-Europe, a party which was once anti-Powellite on immigration is now becoming very close to being Powellite on that issue. |
| "The party once for the welfare state now appears to be against it in so many aspects of the welfare state. On almost any issue, you can see the Conservative party doing U-turns. U-turns on alcohol prices, U-turns to legislate on overseas aid, U-turns on gay marriage. | "The party once for the welfare state now appears to be against it in so many aspects of the welfare state. On almost any issue, you can see the Conservative party doing U-turns. U-turns on alcohol prices, U-turns to legislate on overseas aid, U-turns on gay marriage. |
| "I suppose the new term isn't U-turn, it's Ukip-turn. I say to the Conservatives, Ukip if you want to, we're going to stick to what we believe in." | "I suppose the new term isn't U-turn, it's Ukip-turn. I say to the Conservatives, Ukip if you want to, we're going to stick to what we believe in." |
| Speaking to an audience of Labour MPs, MSPs, trade union officials, council leaders and activists – with the notable absence of his former but now estranged friend Alistair Darling, the chairman of Better Together, Brown said his party would continue to campaign for social justice, wealth equalisation and fairness across the UK. | |
| He said the SNP's policies were incoherent: they wanted to halve corporation tax rates to Ireland's levels in a "race to the bottom" on taxation, while losing the UK's greater resources to support pensions spending now £100 a head higher than the UK average. | He said the SNP's policies were incoherent: they wanted to halve corporation tax rates to Ireland's levels in a "race to the bottom" on taxation, while losing the UK's greater resources to support pensions spending now £100 a head higher than the UK average. |
| Within an hour of his speech, Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish deputy first minister, was making the opposite case at an SNP event in Glasgow. Signalling an all-out battle with Labour for centre-left voters, she insisted that only independence would allow Scotland to defend the welfare state and use the state's resources to tackle poverty and inequality. | Within an hour of his speech, Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish deputy first minister, was making the opposite case at an SNP event in Glasgow. Signalling an all-out battle with Labour for centre-left voters, she insisted that only independence would allow Scotland to defend the welfare state and use the state's resources to tackle poverty and inequality. |
| Sturgeon chose similar ground to Brown, attacking the UK coalition government's obsession with austerity and its attacks on the welfare state. She promised a future SNP government in an independent Scotland would scrap the new universal credit benefits system and introduce new benefits paid directly to women. | Sturgeon chose similar ground to Brown, attacking the UK coalition government's obsession with austerity and its attacks on the welfare state. She promised a future SNP government in an independent Scotland would scrap the new universal credit benefits system and introduce new benefits paid directly to women. |
| "Independence will give us the chance to recast our social security system for the future," she said. | "Independence will give us the chance to recast our social security system for the future," she said. |
| "To see it – alongside our NHS and our education system – as the commitment we make to each other in a mutual society, a way of helping people to live full and independent lives, to help people into work, but also to make sure they have a safety net when they can't. A system that supports a growing economy, not one that is written off as a drain on it." | "To see it – alongside our NHS and our education system – as the commitment we make to each other in a mutual society, a way of helping people to live full and independent lives, to help people into work, but also to make sure they have a safety net when they can't. A system that supports a growing economy, not one that is written off as a drain on it." |