Manifesto 3: Why can't we talk about immigration?

Poor Gillian Duffy! She woke up this morning an ordinary Rochdale lady thinking about housework and shopping and what to have for tea.  Tonight she finds herself at the centre of a political storm which could finally guarantee the downfall of a man who, firstly as Chancellor of the Exchequer and now Prime Minister, has been in power for thirteen years.

Mrs Duffy's moderate expressions of concern about the impact of immigration on the economy provoked Mr Brown to label her a "bigoted woman" - a paranoid over-reaction which revealed much about how he views the natural concerns of ordinary voters.

But behind Mr Brown's gaff lies a much bigger problem - the failure of all the main political parties to engage effectively with the issue of immigration over many years.

The standard mantra of the Labour Party (and, to a lesser extent, the Liberals) is to label anyone who suggests unbridled immigration may have drawbacks as a bigoted racist. The Conservatives, who traditionally have been less in favour of immigration, have exacerbated the problem by allowing themselves to be gagged, for fear of being labelled racist and losing the floating voters.

The effect of this stifling of debate is that the case for immigration has not been effectively made to the electorate, and there has been no recognition and mitigation of the effects on ordinary people of increased competition for jobs, social housing and health care.

This conspiracy of silence leaves a major concern of the voters open to exploitation by the far right parties - UKIP and the BNP - whose analysis of the issues and proposed solutions are simply unacceptable in a civilised country.

The major parties owe it to the electorate and the immigrant community to engage with their legitimate concerns and ensure that appropriate measures are put in place to deal with this issue.