Volunteers reflect on the explosive Immigration debate: ‘The more the scarier’ at the Battle of Ideas festival. Speakers: Frank Field, Labour MP for Birkenhead and co-chair of the Cross Party Group on Balanced Migration and Professor Bob Rowthorn, emeritus professor of Economics, University of Cambridge both argue for clamping down on immigration. In opposition, Nathalie Rothschild, commissioning editor of the online magazine spiked and organiser of the Open the Borders Campaign, along with Ceri Dingle, Director at WORLDwrite, present the case for freedom of movement for all. Young attendees at the debate add their views for this show stopping section of the programme. Highlights include Ceri Dingle arguing that the Labour Party has always been anti immigrant since it supports immigration controls and Frank Fields admission that “of course immigration controls are anti-immigrant what would be the point of having them otherwise.” The programme also questions Field’s claim to be simply reflecting the wishes of his core working class voters.
