THE Conservatives will next week ditch hardline policies on immigration that were widely seen to have backfired at the last election.

As they attempt to create a more “civilised” approach, David Cameron’s party will consult ethnic minority groups in big cities and begin to extol the benefits of migration, The Times has learnt. The change is expected to involve dropping controversial policies such as quotas for refugees, processing migrants on an island and withdrawing from the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees. These were put centre stage in the election under the leadership of Michael Howard, but the tactic was blamed for turning off some voters. Doreen Lawrence, mother of the murdered black teenager Stephen, said Mr Howard was “clearly pandering to the racists”.

Damian Green, the Tory immigration spokesman, told The Times that the tone during the election campaign “was perceived by many people as harsh”. He will meet Muslims in Coventry on Monday in the first of a series of consultations towards a new policy, which he said must have the consent of ethnic minorities.

Mr Green said: “We want to develop credible and civilised policies. We want to raise the tone of the debate and we think developing credible policies is the way to stop it being dominated by the extremist parties.

“We all agree that the immigration message was too high in the mix in terms of what people were hearing from us. That is now more than a year ago. The world has moved on.”

The appointment of Mr Green, who is on the left of the Tory party, as immigration spokesman will be seen as underlining Mr Cameron’s determination to dump Mr Howard’s policies. But Mr Green insisted that the party was still keen to increase the number of border guards and introduce a more rigorous points system to let in migrants with the right skills.

He added: “In developing an immigration policy, we want it perceived as firm and fair by everyone, including those ethnic groups who are likely to have family members who are recent immigrants.

“We welcome immigration, as long as it is intelligently controlled. It has enriched British society and widened the horizons of the whole British people to the rest of the world. It brings economic benefits and cultural diversity.

“We aim to develop a policy which has the confidence of all sections of the community. Many minorities in this country have a particular interest in how immigration policy works . . . so we are asking for their views and suggestions.”

During the election campaign, Mr Howard was accused of scaremongering when he raised the spectre of race riots if the immigration system was not toughened up. He said: “If people lose confidence in our immigration system and believe it is out of control, that breeds a sense of insecurity and that is damaging to good community relations.”

THE TORIES AND THE RACE CARD

“In this country in 15 or 20 years’ time, the black man will have the whip hand over the white man . . . As I look ahead, I am filled with foreboding. Like the Roman, I seem to see the River Tiber foaming with much blood”
Enoch Powell, dismissed as Shadow Defence Minister, April 1968

“People are really rather afraid that this country might be rather swamped by people of a different culture”
Margaret Thatcher, Tory leader, January 1978

“A large proportion of Britain’s Asian population fail to pass the cricket test. Which side do they cheer for? It’s an interesting test. Are you still harking back to where you came from or where you are?”
Norman Tebbit, former party chairman, April 1990

“It is not acceptable for any international conventions, particularly ones that may be many years out of date, to stop the British Government from providing a better asylum system in the interest of the refugee and the people of Britain”
Iain Duncan Smith, party leader, January 2003

“I believe that we have to bring immigration under control . . . if that means that we have to withdraw from the 1951 convention, that’s what I’d do”
Michael Howard, party leader, April 2005

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