Theresa May’s baseless blast against immigration

THIRTEEN years ago the Conservatives’ first female chairman stood at the lectern at the annual party conference and declared that the Tories needed to shake off their “nasty party” image. “I want us to be the party that represents the whole of Britain and not merely some mythical place called ‘Middle England’,” she said, “but the truth is that as our country has become more diverse, our party has remained the same.”

How Theresa May has changed. While the chancellor, George Osborne, attempts to shift his party to the centre, openly courting Labour voters in his conference speech this week, the home secretary’s address was aimed at the party’s right, and those mythical middle-Englanders. She used the speech to announce a new drive to curb immigration to Britain, and with it was a much harsher tone. “[W]hen immigration is too high, when the pace of change is too fast,” she said, “it’s impossible to build a cohesive society.” The nasty party, said Tory detractors (for the phrase has stuck), is back.