Locked up

AT THE start of every election campaign, commentators fret about whether the main political parties will “play the race card”. Far from doing that this time, both Labour and the Tories seem keen to ingratiate themselves with minority voters. The leaders of all the major parties have agreed to make campaign appearances on Zee TV, a cable and satellite channel for Britain's Asians. Jack Straw, Labour's home-affairs spokesman, has written to minority groups to trumpet his party's plans to ease restrictions on immigration. Tony Blair made a media event of his recent visit to London's Central Mosque, while in January John Major went one better and travelled all the way to the subcontinent to impress Asian voters back home (and even wore a funny hat to make sure they noticed). But for all the fanfare, fussing over minorities seems unlikely to swing many votes.