Europe's establishment can no longer ignore immigration
European politics is becoming repetitive. Fuelled by concern over migration, a Right-wing party surges in the polls, and the political establishment immediately sets about working out how to deal with the symptom without addressing the cause.
Having entered a coalition in the Netherlands, Geert Wilders appears to have come to the conclusion that the Dutch establishment is currently drawing from this exact playbook, and has collapsed the government as a result of its unwillingness to back his revised plans on migration and failure to deliver existing pledges.
It is another sorry entry in a long series. In Germany, some politicians are calling for an outright ban on Alternative fur Deutschland, with the intelligence agencies now authorised to use surveillance in an attempt to gather information on the party. In France, Marine Le Pen has been banned from standing in the next election.
And in Britain, 15 years of consecutive votes for lower migration, with manifesto pledges and verbal promises to deliver the same, have resulted in the precise opposite as politicians drunk on inflated fiscal forecasts have sought to shirk hard decisions.
There is every prospect that Sir Keir Starmer's recent tough talk will turn out to be yet another attempt to pay lip service to concerns on migration without introducing meaningful reforms. The scale of the changes triggered by our open doors policy, however, means pressure will continue to build.
Should politicians continue to defy the public, they should not be surprised if they pay a heavy price at the ballot box.
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Results: Denmark 1-0 Wales; Wales 1-4 Italy If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email This is an extract from our free weekly email, Moving the Goalposts. To get the full edition, visit this page and follow the instructions. Moving the Goalposts is back in to its twice-weekly format, delivered to your inboxes every Tuesday and Thursday.
