What is important is to keep the discussion in context, the 'hostile environment' as referred to by Labour was specifically aimed at criminals as shown here.
This strategy sets out how we will continue our efforts
to cut crime and make the UK a hostile environment
for those that seek to break our laws or abuse our
hospitality. It is divided into four mutually reinforcing
objectives that together form the basis of our renewed
approach to tackling
criminal activity.
Our objectives:
Deter - Strengthening UK resilience against
immigration and cross border
crime;
Disrupt - Breaking up criminal activities and
organised
criminal groups;
Detect - Identifying and locating those
responsible for
criminal activity and the smuggling
of illicit goods;
Nowhere are innocent people under any threat.
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.g...df?view=Binary