Indeed, as Labour strains to court former Lib Dems and current waverers to the Greens, the Labour leader might have political reason for wanting to paint himself as a dove.
The recent EU deal with Afghanistan would put further pressure on the Afghan economy and labour market, strain resources and, according to analysts, might push young men into the ranks of the insurgents.
He added that despite the choking pollution, Beijing's biggest problem was population control, claiming the influx of migrant labour put strains on the city's infrastructure.
Otherwise, if a government allows its debts to rise too far, there will be an exodus of capital and labour that strains the ability to repay of the investors and workers who remain.
It's an honourable objective, and in order to explain why England's state schools aren't as good as yours was, you conjure up the image of teachers, unions, local authorities and a Labour government straining to deprive poor children of a good education.
"Gnnmph, I can't 'ave it 'ere, I 'aven't 'ad my enema," wails a labouring housewife, straining fruitlessly on a communal tenement bog as horrified neighbours look on in their rollers.
According to a recent economic report by the OECD, estimates of the country's NAIRU ("non-accelerating-inflation rate of unemployment"), the furthest that unemployment can fall before labour-market strains start to push up inflation, lie between 8.5% and 9.5%, a high figure compared with America or Britain.
But he acknowledged that a series of major policy issues threatened to strain Labour unity in coming months.
Then there are the challenges of seasonality, such as a summer influx of visitors and seasonal labour, and consequent strain on services.
Senior officers are now providing damning evidence of the strain Labour's shambolic approach has placed on the police and their ability to fight crime".
Illegal immigration is the challenge of people being in the country without documentation, primarily for economic reasons, where they may distort labour markets and strain public services.
