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Immigration

I welcome the Government making time for a debate on this subject. It is a sensitive issue but, as the Minister for Immigration said in his introductory remarks, it is one of major public concern, and if the main political parties do not address it, we leave space for extremists to flourish. Concern about the issue has risen up the political agenda during my political lifetime, and one has only to look at the Library paper on migration statistics to see why. Almost as soon as the previous Labour Government came to office, there was a significant increase in the level of immigration. The hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) sighs wearily, but one has only to look at the chart in the Library brief to see that effect. Over the course of the Labour Government's time in office, immigration into this country doubled.