SiC makes the front pages (1) Daily Express

Strangers into Citizens has had newspaper and magazine front pages before. In 2007, we had a Spectator cover; in 2008, a front page in The Independent.

On Monday morning we woke up to a Daily Express front page (above) based on MigrationWatch's bizarre claims that -- well, you can read it for yourself here.

The Express long ago decided it would take Sir Andrew's press releases, beef 'em up, and slap 'em straight on the page. In this case, the enthusiasm in the editor's office may have gone a little over the top.

In his press release, Sir Andrew uses the LSE figure of 750,000 irregular migrants -- but the Express, presumably thinking that's not shocking enough, adds another 200,000, claiming in the first para that regularisation would affect"up to 950,000 foreign nationals".

Some hints that this may be, after all, a typo, lie further down, when the Express says the LSE has estimated there to be between "524,000 and 947,000 'irregular residents' and their children in Britain at the end of 2007".

The normal rules in journalism are that if you are going to present an extreme point of view or a claim, you should see if anyone out there has a different one. But even though the Express mentions us, it doesn't ask us if we, er, you know, have a different take on MigrationWatch's exotic assertions.

Reminds me of when the Express first clocked SiC's existence. March 2007: Express phones Austen to ask him to explain campaign. Austen explains. Reporter: "Sounds brilliant." Austen: "huh?" Reporter: "Yes, makes total sense. I'm all for it." Austen: "Really? I'd have expected the Express to have a different view ..." Reporter: "Yeah well obviously we'll have to say it's rubbish 'cos that's the paper's line, but I think it's great." Sure enough, the next day, the headline was "FURY OVER MIGRANT AMNESTY PLAN".

This was more or less their headline on Tuesday morning: STORM OVER MIGRANT AMNESTY.

(Storm. Fury. You get the idea.)

The UKBA spokesman responded to the Strangers into Citizens proposal with what it hoped would sound like what you might hear in a pub.

“Those here illegally should go home, not go to the front of the queue for jobs and benefits."

That's it. That's the policy.