Yes, Joseph Muscat DID go on about immigration with Ed Miliband
The other day I posted something about how I hoped Joseph Muscat was properly briefed about Ed Miliband’s personal history before he began banging on against immigration.
The press reports on that meeting didn’t mention any talk of immigration, and I was sort of surprised, given that this is Muscat’s particular bugbear even while he describes others disparagingly as right wing.
But while still in London (heqq u, nahtfu ic-cens li naghmlu ftit xoppink ghax in Malta daqxejn difficli biex I buy anything nice), he gave a telephone interview to Super One radio this morning, about his chat with the British Labour leader.
We discussed how the 27 right-wing governments (of the European Union) are not helping small countries like Malta to address the immigration problem.
You will notice that unlike his party’s news team, he knows that there are 27 member states and not 74, and that he includes the Maltese government in that list of countries who are not helping Malta to fight immigration.
I trust Miliband restrained himself and did not point out that anti-immigrant sentiments are right wing and that he himself is of Polish Jewish immigrant stock, who within one generation from immigration is leading the Labour Party and stands to become prime minister.
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From the Times:
Speaking on One Radio this morning in a telephone link from London.
Does it not sound terribly late 80s or early 90s? You have telephone links from news reporters in the middle of Afghanistan or Zimbabwe not London.
Twenty-seven right-wing governments. What about his beloved Belgium, a country with a technocratic government? And what of Zapatero? The Spanish government is a bit of a lame duck now, but its policies are one of the few viable paths for Malta’s left. But of course, Zapatero is a true Liberal…no Maltese Labour leader would even dream to emulate his policies over here, given the party’s true conservative colour.
Talk of the PN going bananas policy-wise, the LP always ignores the true values of the European left and gets away with it.
There is also Greece with a left wing government. This is the problem with PL you can’t even trust them with some basic info. How can Malta help Malta with immigration??
You can here listen to David Milliband critising the former Labour government policy on immigration – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13134750
[Daphne – The Labour leader is called Ed, not David. David is his brother, who lost the leadership battle to Ed.]
Zapatero’s government has an anti-immigration policy and is paying jobless immigrants so that they leave Spain. http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2008/0807/p04s01-woeu.html
Oh, I forgot Miliband and Zapatero are right wing.
[Daphne – I repeat that David Miliband is not the Labour leader. Managing immigration is not the same thing as being anti-immigrants. Learn the difference.]
This is David Miliband.
http://www.google.com.mt/imgres?imgurl=http://thecolourisblue.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/article-1249446-02c0ae7900000578-281_306x485.jpg&imgrefurl=http://thecolourisblue.wordpress.com/2010/02/10/labour-and-bananas/&h=485&w=306&sz=34&tbnid=21Sx_T4S9Eeh_M:&tbnh=129&tbnw=81&prev=/search%3Fq%3Ddavid%2Bmiliband%2Bbanana%2Bpic%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=david+miliband+banana+pic&usg=__PW-N67IbiiSysiSSHtzpDmCqCVQ=&sa=X&ei=UI0HTrmTEYfDswa5qeidDA&ved=0CCQQ9QEwBg
How can Mr. Muscat build a Maltese case against immigration with Mr. Red Ed without sounding stupid?
Under the 1997-2010 Labour governments of B&B (Blair and Brown), immigration exploded in the UK, to the point that it became a hot issue in the last general elections. And when she complained about it with the British Labour leader, Ms. Gillian Duffy was called a bigoted woman by the same leader who was also her Prime Minister.
Of course, unlike with the Brown-Duffy episode, we will never know what Mr. Red Ed said after he met Mr. Muscat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTr8IVWBuPE&feature=related
“How can Mr. Muscat build a Maltese case against immigration with Mr. Red Ed without sounding stupid?”
Isn’t it quite normal for Joseph Muscat to sound stupid?
Did Joseph Muscat “discuss” (I imagine it was him whining and Miliband listening politely) how he praised Italy’s right-wing policies – the ‘firm stand’ – regarding immigrants? And how the PL has gained the support of Malta’s own raving right-wing party?
Here’s an excerpt from the official transcript.
Joseph: Ed, about this immigration thing… Why was it that you opened your borders and allowed ‘illegals’ for so many years when we all know what control freaks you Brits are?
Ed: The people, Joseph. From the 60s through the 90s and beyond, the people rallied for open borders, multiculturalism, diversity – a Fabian society where all values come from the state… We social democrats listen to the people.
Joseph (confused): The people rallied for open borders?
Ed: Sure! Where else could our marching orders come from?