A health minister today waded into a furious immigration row by warning that London’s care system would “collapse” without foreign workers.
Senior Lib-Dem Norman Lamb claimed large numbers of poorly paid immigrants are toiling to look after the capital’s elderly and disabled.
There has been controversy over Home Office vans which carried posters through London telling illegal immigrants to “go home or face arrest”. Lib-Dems have accused Tories of masterminding the “ghastly” campaign, now being investigated by the Advertising Standards Agency after complaints it could incite racial hatred.
Mr Lamb, due to speak at his party’s conference today, said he wanted to take anti-immigration campaigners to see the good work done by immigrants and added: “I have been out in London accompanying a care worker visiting people’s homes seeking to understand what the job involves. He happened to come from Sardinia. I witnessed a very dedicated person. All, bar one, of his colleagues were migrant workers.
“This is the other side of the immigration debate. Our care system would collapse without the work of so many migrant workers in London and elsewhere.”
Speaking on BBC radio this morning, Lib-Dem Chief Secretary to The Treasury Danny Alexander accused Tories of getting the “tone” wrong on immigration. He said: “Those ghastly vans roaming around London — as if that’s going to change anything. We don’t think that’s right.”
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has already disowned the campaign, claiming no Lib-Dems at the Home Office knew about it in advance.
