Brown: I understand immigration worries

Gordon Brown insisted today that he did understand public fears about immigration as he tried to put behind him his gaffe of branding a pensioner a “bigoted woman”.

As he prepared for tonight’s third and final leaders’ debate, the British Prime Minister said he now wanted to concentrate on the economy following his encounter with 66-year-old Gillian Duffy on the campaign trail.

“Yesterday is yesterday. Today I want to talk about the future of the economy,” he declared as he addressed workers at a factory in Halesowen in the West Midlands.

But the issue of immigration continued to dog him, with one worker demanding what he was going to do about it during a question-and-answer session with staff.

Mr Brown insisted that he understood the sense of public concern, pointing to the Government’s introduction of an Australian-style points system for workers coming from outside the EU.

“I understand the worries people have about immigration. I understand the concerns about what is happening to people’s neighbourhoods and I understand the fears that people have,” he said.

“But we have taken action with this new points system. Net migration to the United Kingdom is now coming down.”