Farron bids to kill off ‘dog whistle’ law forcing landlords to check immigration status of tenants

The Liberal Democrats are trying to kill off the government’s “right to rent” plans which force landlords to assess the visa status of migrant tenants and which, critics claim, will fuel racism akin to the dark days of “no dogs, no blacks, no Irish” signs on doors…

“These plans are trying to turn landlords into free labour for the immigration service,” said Lib Dem leader Tim Farron. “But more than that it is the worst kind of ineffectual, dog whistle politics that this government has become synonymous with. The Liberal Democrats in both the House of Commons and Lords have tabled motions to try and kill this plan outright.”

The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, a charity, says its research shows “in the first six months, the ‘right to rent’ checks had resulted in discrimination against people with foreign accents, foreign names and those without British passports”. [International Business Times]

That last point is particularly important as for some the very idea of the policy is repellent, but to win the political argument the Liberal Democrats also need to win over those who don’t share that instinct but can be persuaded by the practical implication.

The parallel is with ID cards where the battle against them was won by a combination of those opposed in principle and those who were put off the policy by issues such as cost.