Tony Blair is talking about reducing immigration, which has been a huge problem in the UK for years, and years, and years. However, he has economic worries:

the Prime Minister said that it was the Bank of England’s view that inward migration had had a positive impact on the economy.

He added that new immigration controls announced yesterday by Home Secretary Charles Clarke had been designed to ensure that the prospects for economic growth would not be damaged.

The idea that immigration is necessary to economic growth is an often-refuted canard. And it's a lame excuse for not doing something about mass immigration.

Blair is a Labour Prime Minister, and as such, should be willing to preside over the total destruction of the British economy, as his predecessors did.