It was not a “mistake” for Labour to open the borders to hundreds of thousands Eastern European migrants, Tony Blair has said, in a direct contradiction of Ed Miliband’s position.

The former Prime Minister said his party must “argue” with voters like Gillian Duffy who are angered by its record on immigration – even if it means they vote for another party.

Politicians must declare that free movement in Europe is a “good idea”, he said, warning that party leaders give the UK Independence Party “greater credibility” if they “indulge their rhetoric” rather than exposing their “ridiculous” plans, Mr Blair said.

It is nearly five years since Gordon Brown was caught on microphone labelling Mrs Duffy, a pensioner from Rochdale, a “bigot” for lamenting rising immigration.

But the Labour Party, whose London leadership is instinctively liberal, remains badly divided as to how to respond to working class voters’ disaffection over migration.

Amid a growing Ukip threat in its northern heartlands, Mr Miliband has declared Tony Blair “got it wrong” when he allowed people from Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic to work in Britain without restrictions, while most EU states imposed transitional controls to slow the rate of migration. He has pledged to ban immigrants from claiming benefits for two years and to tackle rogue employers exploiting migrant labour.

“We became too disconnected from the concerns of working people,” Mr Miliband has said.

But in a robust defence of his record and the principles of free movement, Mr Blair said the migrants would have come later even if transitional controls had been imposed.

“I don’t agree it was a mistake,” he said. “All we did was bring forward what would have happened anyway. In 2004 the economy was booming and we had a requirement for skilled workers from abroad.”

“Supposing you put all those people from Eastern Europe back out of Britain again would we be a stronger better country? The answer is no.”

Mr Blair made the remarks in an interview with Trevor Philips, the former head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, for a Channel 4 documentary to be broadcast on Thursday.

He said rather than pandering to them, Labour should argue with voters such as Mrs Duffy, even if it drives them away from the Labour Party.

“I would have said to her, I understand why you feel as you feel and why it's difficult. But here's the other side of the picture. So if we want to keep all those people out of the country let's look at what their impact has actually been on our country and let's look at why the idea in the European Union that people are able to move freely across frontiers is a good idea.

“I mean, you have just got to put the argument. She probably wouldn't agree and she might vote for someone else as a result.”

 Gordon Brown labelled Mrs Duffy a "bigot" after she lamented immigration

Political leaders have a “duty” to say that UKIP’s proposals to end free movement are “ridiculous”, he went on.

“If Britain wrenched itself out of the European Union, this idea that Nigel Farage would go off - can you imagine anything more ridiculous than the idea that he would negotiate a bespoke agreement between Britain and the European Union? I mean that would be an interesting negotiation to be a fly on the wall on.”

“I'm not saying you don't have to deal with it with a real understanding of the anxieties that people have but your job as the leader is to say ‘Well, look, this is where I think we should go.’

“If you believe in the UKIP thing then say it, but don't indulge their rhetoric, their sentiment around the issue, because what you do then is you effectively you give them a greater credibility.”

Source: The Telegraph