VIDEO: Labour brings bigwigs to Dudley for immigration chat
Labour brought the big guns to the Black Country as the party launched a nationwide tour aimed at influencing its policy on immigration.
Shadow Home Secretary Andy Burnham and Shadow Immigration Minister Keir Starmer were at the Upper Gornal Pensioners Club to listen to concerns over the impact of immigration on the local community.
Mr Burnham said the event was part of a plan to win back voters the party had 'failed to convince' over the issue.
"We will not succeed in doing that by denying the effect that migration has had on some communities," he said.
"EU free movement is, overall, beneficial to our society and economy. But it has a different input on different places.
"In some of our more deprived areas, it has put pressure on public services and undermined jobs and wages. If politicians don't understand and acknowledge that, then we will continue to look out of touch."
The hour-long debate was based around four key questions on the topics of who should be allowed to come to the UK, whether stronger border controls were needed, the impact of immigration for local workers and tackling the refugee crisis.
Dudley North MP Ian Austin, who organised the event, said: "We know from the last election that people don't trust us on the economy, welfare or immigration.
"This is about us listening to their concerns to regain that trust. We hear that politicians in London don't care what the people of Dudley think. This proves otherwise."
Politicians chatted with club members during the roundtable event, with the need for stricter border controls and cracking down on the abuse of benefits among the issues raised.
Around 50 pensioners were in attendance.
Mr Starmer said he will be spending the next three months on a tour of British towns and cities 'to see for myself both the advantages and challenges that migration brings in different places'.
"People here in Dudley have given us plenty of food for thought. Nothing was off limits, and that's as it should be.
"We've heard real concerns about people coming to this country and whether they have got the right skills and whether they will integrate.
"These are issues we know that we need to be considering. You can't sit in Westminster and read a report that has the same impact as sitting across the table and hearing people's views first hand."
The MPs also met with businesses and students in Wolverhampton as part of the tour.
