評論
打印
Britain and immigration
英國和他的移民們
Keep open the gates
打開大門
The Conservatives should not risk Britain's future prosperity on a flawed bid to cut immigration
保守黨不應該將英國未來的繁榮錯誤的投注在削減移民上。
WHEN David Cameron declared his intention last year to hold a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union, this newspaper gave a cautious cheer. Although we felt there was a risk the Conservative prime minister was bending too far to the Eurosceptics in his party, who happily ignore the enormous economic cost Britain would incur by leaving the union, the issue had become so divisive that we believed Britons should get a say on the subject. We were also encouraged that Mr Cameron made a rousing case for Britain's EU membership, which he vowed to fortify and improve by campaigning for badly needed EU-wide reforms ahead of the promised vote. He needs to restate that commitment, because the recent talk from Number 10 about curbing immigration from the EU risks giving the opposite impression: of a weak and unprincipled ruling party that is prepared to gamble Britain's national interest on a policy shaped by populists.
當去年戴維卡梅倫宣布英國加入歐盟的公民全投意圖時，本表發表了謹慎的樂觀態度。雖然我們覺得仍然有風險，在黨內保守黨首相還不算是歐洲懷疑論者，他愉快地忽視了英國脫離聯邦會導致的巨大經濟成本，這個問題已經意見不一，我們認為英國人對于這件事應該得到一個說法。我們也鼓勵卡梅倫先生對英國的歐盟成員國做了一個激動人心的示范，他發誓要在承諾的投票前以競選的方式加強和改進迫切需要的歐盟改革。他需要重申此承諾，因為最近來自10號關于控制移民以及歐盟風險的話題產生了反面印象：一個弱勢的，沒有原則的執政黨準備把英國的國家利益押注在民粹主義形成的政策上。
Britain's contradictory feelings towards immigration reflect the peculiarities of its history. On the one hand, the country's success is rooted in openness—in exploration, conquest and trade. Most Britons are not racist, which makes their country especially appealing to the millions of immigrants who have created much of its wealth. On the other hand, Britain is a bristling island nation, with a deep-seated fear of invasion. Its people worry inordinately about the economic and cultural side-effects of immigration—and are prone to scaremongers, a role which the increasingly formidable UK Independence Party (UKIP) is now filling. Its two main causes are leaving the European Union and reducing immigration.
英國對移民矛盾感情反映了其歷史特點。一方面，這個國家的成功的基石是開放，探索，征服和貿易。大多數英國人都不是種族主義者，這讓他們的國家特別吸引數以百萬為英國創造巨大財富的移民。另一方面，英國是一個島國，對入侵有著根深蒂固的恐懼。人們極其擔心那些移民在經濟和文化反面的副作用并且很容易受到蠱惑。日益強大的英國獨立黨現在正填充。這就是將要離開歐盟和減少移民的兩個主要原因。
Mr Cameron has lost one by-election to UKIP and faces the prospect of losing another in a few weeks and seeing his base eroded in a general election next spring, so it is hardly surprising that he has moved to the right. But the jump has been large and rapid. Last year, when he unveiled his EU reform strategy, Mr Cameron did not mention immigration as an area of concern. His target was red tape, not the liberal migration regime that is one of the union's main strengths. Since then the Tories have said they want to restrict benefits to immigrants and make citizens from future EU member countries wait longer before they are allowed to work in Britain. Now Mr Cameron is talking about “fixing” immigration to Britain from the EU, while his advisers have floated the idea of an “emergency brake” on immigration beyond a certain level from even existing EU members. All will be revealed in a speech soon.
卡梅倫先生已經失去了一個通過選舉來的英國獨立黨，在接下來的幾周可能會失去另一個，他的根基在明年春季大選也逐漸在被侵蝕，因此他轉移到右派是不足為奇的。但這是一次大規模、快速的跳躍。去年，當他揭開了歐盟的改革策略面紗時，卡梅倫先生沒有提到移民這一個令人關注的領域。他的目標就是官僚主義，而不是作為工會主要優勢之一的自由遷移制度。自那時以來，保守黨表示，他們希望限制移民利益，讓來自未來歐盟成員國家的公民等待更長的時間才被允許在英國工作?，F在卡梅倫先生在歐盟提到“固定”英國移民，而他的顧問們對遠遠超出規定數量的移民提出了一個“緊急制動”的主意，甚至針對現有歐盟成員。這都將在不久的一次演講中揭開謎底。
An emergency brake would be foolish in two ways. First, it is unlikely to succeed in its primary aim—fixing UKIP. A few voters may be tempted back to the Tory fold, but UKIP will always be able to outgun its rivals on promises to keep out foreigners. And most of the fears about immigration are a proxy for wider, especially economic, disgruntlements—as differences in attitudes between different bits of the country suggest. London, the city most changed by immigration, is generally relaxed about it, while several of the areas most determined to keep out immigrants, such as north-east England, have hardly seen any. An emergency brake will not assuage the anxiety in such places even if Mr Cameron could introduce it, which he probably cannot.
緊急剎車是愚蠢的行為，具體表現在兩個方面。首先，對它的首要目標是不可能成功的—固定英國獨立黨。一些選民可能會回到保守黨陣營，但英國獨立黨總是能夠在承諾趕出外國人方面擊敗競爭對手。大多數移民帶來的恐懼是廣泛的，特別是經濟和不同國家之間的差異態度等方面的不滿。倫敦，移民改變了這座城市，一般情況下的政策是寬松的，而一些最堅定的趕走移民的地區，如英格蘭東北部，幾乎沒有看到任何移民。緊急剎車不會減輕這些地方的焦慮，即使卡梅倫先生介紹，也不可能。
This is the second problem with his tactic. Free movement of labour is one of the EU's four core freedoms. There is vanishingly little chance that other member states will concede it. And if Mr Cameron promises British voters concessions he cannot deliver, he risks not just exacerbating anti-EU feeling, but also cornering himself into a position from which he has to campaign for withdrawal from the union.
這是他策略的第二個問題。勞動力的自由流動是歐盟的四大核心自由之一。是其他的成員國無法比擬的。如果卡梅倫先生承諾英國選民作出讓步，但他不能實現，不僅加劇了反歐盟的感覺，也威脅到了他自己的地位，他就不得不從歐盟退出競選。
Mr Cameron started with an admirable reform agenda, which would help the whole EU. If he makes demands that will never be met he will set that agenda up for failure—and also raise the chances that vexed Britons will end up voting to leave the EU. That is a high price to pay for a few UKIP votes.
卡梅倫先生最開始提出的是一個令人欽佩的將有助于整個歐盟的改革議程。但如果他提出的是將永遠不會被滿足的要求，這個議程最終會因他以失敗告終，并且加大英國人最終會投票離開歐盟的機會。這是為了幾個英國獨立黨選票的高的代價。譯者：黃梅
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