IT IS dangerous for politicians to use the issue of immigration to play to the gallery. But, equally, is it dangerous to ignore the problems that immigration can cause.
Liam Byrne, MP for Hodge Hill and the minister in charge of immigration, has been candid, forthright and brave to reflect publicly on what he views as the hazards.
Chief among the problems, he says, is that standards at schools in some of most deprived areas are being driven down because of an influx of youngsters who speak poor English.
Such issues need to be discussed so that sensible ways forward can be found.
The alternative is to allow the debate on immigration to be dominated by hate-mongering racists who are interested not in solutions but simply in scapegoats.