Conservative instincts 'uncharitable', says Liberal Democrat (UK)

[pampango]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/liberaldemocrats/8223192/Conservative-instincts-uncharitable-says-Liberal-Democrat.html

Tory immigration policy is "driven by uncharitable instincts" and the party's political allies in Europe are "an embarrassment", the Liberal Democrat Foreign Office minister has said. Jeremy Browne described some of the Conservatives' partners in the European Parliament as "nutty". He said foreign diplomats were delighted that the Lib Dems had ensured the Government was "far more amenable and civilised" towards the European Union than a Tory administration.

Speaking to an undercover reporter posing as a supporter in his Taunton Deane constituency, Mr Browne, who is regarded as being on the Right wing of his party, disclosed that he and colleagues had been engaged in a struggle to persuade the Tories to relax a planned cap on immigration. "The Tories had a very harsh, in my view, immigration policy," he said.

"But the Conservative one I thought was driven by quite a lot of uncharitable instincts. I think, with the involvement of the Lib Dems plus the more liberal-minded Tories, we'll end up with a policy which is more enlightened."

The minister said the Lib Dems were "punching above our weight" and claimed to have transformed the Government's approach to the EU. Asked about Mr Cameron's decision to ally his party with some far-Right parties in eastern Europe, he said: "They are quite nutty and that's an embarrassment to them."

The Conservatives decided to leave the coalition of centre-Right political parties in the European Parliament in 2009, a controversial decision driven by William Hague, the Foreign Secretary. Instead, they joined the European Conservatives and Reformists, a coalition of small nationalist parties led by Michal Kaminski, a Polish politician who has been accused of anti-Semitism. The Latvian Freedom and Fatherland Party, a fellow member of the group, has been linked to former members of Nazi SS units.