Tories pledge to limit immigration
Conservative leader Michael Howard has said they would “control and limit immigration”, but also make the asylum system more “humane”.
The Conservative leader was yesterday accused of treating asylum seekers like “dirt” while being quizzed on BBC’s Question Time, but has today promised to make the present system fairer.
Speaking in Cardiff this morning, Mr Howard outlined his party’s plans to place an annual limit on the number of immigrants allowed to enter Britain and re-iterated the proposal to introduce a British border police, whose job it would be to deal with illegal immigrants.
He talked of being a Prime Minister who “will not hang around” and would set in train procedures to change the immigration system immediately.
“In our first month we will set out our programme of legislation to get immigration back under control,” he said.
“There will be an annual limit, set by Parliament, on the number of people that can settle in Britain. We will create a British border control police force so that there is one chief constable with one job – policing our country’s borders. We will establish 24-hour security at Britain’s ports to tackle illegal immigration.”
He added: “We will create a fairer, more humane asylum system by breaking the link between coming to Britain and claiming asylum – a link which keeps the inhumane trade in people smuggling alive.”
Mr Howard also outlined the Conservatives’ plans to adopt the points system used in regard to granting work permits in Australia, insisting this would ensure that “people who want to work hard and make a contribution to our country” are allowed into Britain.
The Tory leader’s comments come on the same day as a report by employment agency Manpower revealed that the expansion of the European Union by ten countries last year had not increased the number of migrant workers coming to Britain.
The report appears to dent the theory that migrant workers will take jobs from Britons and damage the economy, while it also suggests that many take low-paid jobs that workers living in the country do not want.
Ruth Hounslow, head of public affairs at Manpower, said: “This research … appears to demonstrate that workers from the new member states are a valuable resource for British businesses, with expansion of the EU providing a good opportunity to address some of the UK’s skills shortages.”
