Labour lied to public about immigration, says Ed Miliband aide Lord Glasman - Telegraph.co.uk

Calling on "progressive" people to recognise their "responsibility for the generation of far-Right populism," Lord Glasman suggested that Labour was partly responsible for the rise in organisations such as the English Defence League, which was founded in 2009 and organises street marches against Islamic extremism.

He said: "You consider yourself... so opposed that you don't want to talk to them, you don't want to engage with them, you don't want anybody with views like that anywhere near the party."

This, Lord Glasman said, meant that party members ignored "a hate and rage against us" from working class people "who have always been true to Labour".

"Working class men can't really speak at Labour Party meetings about what causes them grief, concerns about their family, concerns about immigration, love of country, without being falsely stereotyped as sexist, racist, nationalist," he said.

Lord Glasman, who is from a family of Jewish immigrants, said that Labour had been wrong to insist that the terms "equality" and "fairness" meant that people from overseas could get special treatment when they came to this country.

Þ?Cutting immigration will do little to alter public perception or reduce concerns even if David Cameron meets his pledge to restrict numbers severely, academics warned yesterday.

A study at the University of Nottingham suggested that concern over immigration is based on perception rather than reality, and that even if net migration is brought down to the "tens of thousands" it is "unlikely to diminish public hostility" because actual numbers have little bearing on public opposition.