Battle lines are drawn between the main parties as Labour comes under fire over leaked documents which appear to encourage some of its MPs and activists to avoid discussing immigration.
The leaked documents were revealed on the day Labour leader Ed Miliband announced plans to prevent cheap foreign labour replacing British workers.
The leaked documents, revealed by the Daily Telegraph, encourages campaigners to “move the conversation on” if the subject of immigration arises. It is part of a 33-page leaflet entitled “campaigning against Ukip”.
Ed Miliband is in Great Yarmouth in Norfolk today announcing that he will introduce “fair and sensible” controls on the number of immigrants.
He said he wants to end the “epidemic of exploitation”, with employers using foreign workers to undercut wages.
“We are serving notice on employers who bring workers here under duress or on false terms and pay them significantly lower wages, with worse terms and conditions,” he said.
“This new criminal offence will provide protection to everyone. It will help ensure that, when immigrants work here, they do not face exploitation themselves and rogue employers are stopped from undercutting the terms and conditions of everyone else.”
“It isn’t prejudiced to worry about immigration, it is understandable,” he added.
It comes as David Cameron says Labour’s economic plan is a “massive gamble” which would add to the nation’s debt “every year for ever”.
“Ed Miliband is saying he will only balance part of the Government’s budget, not the whole thing like we plan.
“Our plan is about fixing the roof when the sun is shining. The alternative is about taking a massive gamble with our future.”
Experts have warned that the scale of the squeeze required to meet the chancellor’s targets would mean spending cuts “on a colossal scale”.
Liberal Democrat cabinet minister Vince Cable said they would “destroy public services in this country in the way we know them” and accused the Tories of embarking on an extreme “ideological” mission that would spell misery for voters.
But Mr Cameron insisted the Tories are planning for the future.
He said: “At the height of the so-called boom years, far from running a surplus, Britain was running the biggest structural deficit in the G7. Then, in 2008, when the economic storms hit, we were completely exposed.”
“Our plan is about making sure that doesn’t happen again. It’s about saying that by 2018 we will be putting money aside so that if any crash or shock happens to our economy, we will be better prepared.
“And frankly, if we are not going to start putting money aside after seven years of continued economic growth, when will we be?”