A message from John McDonnell MP

To the Trade Union Conference Against Immigration Controls, 31st March 2007, from John McDonnell MP

Dear conference

As many of you will know, my constituency Hayes and Harlington is home to two of Britain’s immigration prisons, Colnbrook and Harmondsworth. Here people who have committed no crime are locked up before being deported, often to countries where their very lives are in danger.

Migrants are not criminals but human beings who would contribute to our society as any other citizens. I welcome and applaud this conference because it is essential that migrants and other workers join forces to support each other and fight for a society in which no one is left behind.

Divided, employers will exploit undocumented workers and use them to drive down wages and conditions for everyone else, disposing of them the moment they are no longer needed. Together we can support each other and build a mass movement that will deliver the changes we so badly need.

Trade unions will never be strong enough to win the struggles we face unless we embrace migrant workers regardless of their status. We cannot expect migrant workers to support our struggles unless we support theirs, fighting against the twin threats of detention and deportation and refusing to cooperate with the immigration system in reporting the undocumented, or cutting off services.

Ultimately our struggle is the same: for fair wages and conditions, and a decent life in which we are all treated equally and with dignity.

John McDonnell MP