Migrant cap just weeks away
Monday, 28 June 2010 4:35 PM
A temporary cap on the net number of non-EU immigrants arriving in Britain will come into force on July 19th.
Home secretary Theresa May announced in a written ministerial statement to parliament that the number of migrants who can be offered jobs would be cut by five per cent, or 1,300, for tier one and tier two jobs.
The limit will therefore be 18,700 until next April. The independent migration advisory committee has been asked to assess appropriate levels for future years.
The temporary cap will be replaced by a permanent one next year. It is being introduced to prevent a "rush of people coming in before that permanent limit", Ms May explained to the Today programme.
But shadow home secretary Alan Johnson criticised the plans, insisting Britain needed skilled immigration to ensure it did not slip back into recession.
"Only one in seven potential migrants would be subject to a cap," he said.
"Ironically it is this group of migrants that the country needs most. Employers are able to employ skilled migrants only after the job has been advertised for four weeks and remains unfilled.
"Theresa May says she wants to tackle immigration but the decision of the government to cut the UK Borders Agency by 25% will have a catastrophic effect on our ability to maintain secure borders and tackle illegal immigration. The announcement today is much ado about very little and simply makes minor adjustments to the rigorous points-based immigration controls that Labour introduced."
In the year to September 2009 there were 142,000 net arrivals in Britain, 52% of which were from outside the EU.
Conservatives had called for the need to reduce the number of immigrants from hundreds of thousands to tens of thousands during the election campaign.
That pledge has survived the coalition government process, despite fears from the City that imposing an artificial cap could hurt the economy.
A consultation will aid the migration advisory committee's report on the issue and give businesses the opportunity to oppose the measure.
The Liberal Democrats, who are obliged to support the policy because of their position in the coalition government, had argued against it during the general election campaign.
"We lost thousands of votes to the Tories because of this policy - it was very popular," a Lib Dem 'insider' told the Financial Times newspaper.
"It's rather ironic to hear some of them criticising it now for exactly the same reasons we criticised it during the election."
Ms May said Britain would impose transitional arrangements as new countries join the EU. New rules around language and marriages are also being introduced.
But the centrepiece of the coalition's immigration policy remains the migrant cap.
"Immigration was a key issue for a lot of people during the election campaign," Ms May added.
"What we're talking about today is the coalition government doing something about it and delivering on the promises we made to people."
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