The Truth About Immigration to highlight public and politicians attitude to immigration
BBC Two is to screen a documentary called The Truth About Immigration tonight at 9.30pm.
The documentary has prompted a number of media stories, with many focusing on the fact that the programme will reveal public attitudes to immigration from the annual British Social Attitudes survey.
According to Reuters, the survey found that 77 per cent of people wanted to see a reduction in immigration.
The Independent noted that this comprised 56 per cent who wanted it cut by "a lot" and another 21 per cent who wanted it reduced a little.
However, the Independent also noted that the survey found the number of people who believed immigration was bad for the economy had dropped from 52 per cent in 2011 to 47 per cent, with 31 per cent saying it had boosted the economy.
BBC News reported that Business Secretary Vince Cable is to be quoted in the documentary saying that Prime Minister David Cameron's target of cutting net migration to below 100,000 by 2015 is "not helpful" and will almost certainly not be achieved.
Cable said politicians on all sides must be "practical" and accept that net migration cannot be controlled.
BBC News quoted him as saying: "It involves British people emigrating - you can't control that. It involves free movement within the European Union - in and out. It involves British people coming back from overseas who are not immigrants but are counted in the numbers. Setting an arbitrary cap is not helpful. It almost certainly won't achieve the below 100,000 level the Conservatives are setting - so let's be practical about it."
Also featured on the documentary are the views of UKIP's Nigel Farage.
Numerous media stories, including one in the Guardian, highlighted that Farage had backed the 'basic principle' of Enoch Powell's notorious 1968 "rivers of blood" speech.
According to BBC News, asked whether he thought Mr Powell had been right, Mr Farage responded: "He was right for the wrong reasons. He was wrong in the sense that he felt that black and white would find it difficult to mix, but unfortunately he's been proved to be right because the sheer numbers that have come into Britain have led to segregation."
Writing in a blog post on politics.co.uk, Ian Dunt expressed concern at the BBC's handing of the documentary, in particular with its coverage of it on Radio 4's Today programme.
Dunt questioned why Nigel Farage had been interviewed by Radio 4: "The leader of a fringe party really had no place doing the post 8am slot on a topic which really has nothing to do with him."
Dunt was also concerned that the documentary's presenter, Nick Robinson, sounded more like a government minister than the BBC's political editor. He said Robinson was offering personal views on whether the BBC had reflected public opinion on immigration rather than seeking to inform the debate with accurate information.
"The sense that the BBC – or any other media outlet – should be seeking to reflect public sentiments about immigration rather than help the public form them is particularly galling given the public is startlingly misinformed about the subject," Dunt wrote.