Make Britain great ...and you'll get in (PM Blair proposes tough immigration standards)

The Sun (U.K.) ^ | February 8, 2005 | DAVID WOODING

[Stoat]

Make Britain great ...
and you'll get in

Destination UK ... potential asylum seekers at Calais
 

By DAVID WOODING
Whitehall Editor

 

RATTLED Tony Blair finally acted to end the immigration crisis yesterday by barring unskilled foreigners from entry.

After eight years of failing to confront a mounting mess, he said only key professionals in short supply will be allowed to settle here.

Even they will have to prove they can speak English — and pass a “Britishness” test on our laws and customs.

Mr Blair revealed curbs on non-EU workers as he unveiled Labour’s five-year plan to control rising immigration.

It includes an Aussie-style points system to “screen out” applicants who can contribute little to our economy.

And to deter cheats, workers on short-term permits will have to pay a £6,000 bond, returned when they go home.

 

Hard sell ... Blair
 

 

Last night Mr Blair toured TV studios in an attempt to sell his crackdown to a doubting public.

But angry critics accused him of bolting the door too late by allowing immigration to triple in the first place.

Shadow home secretary David Davis said: “This is the latest headline-grabbing initiative from a panic-stricken Government in the run-up to a general election.

“We’ve heard it all before. Why should we believe any of it now?”

The Tories also accused the Government of pinching their ideas but the blueprint exposed clear differences between the parties.

Labour would not cap the number of immigrants and asylum seekers allowed in and will never withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights.

But the Tories have pledged quotas of between 8,000 and 15,000 a year and would quit the treaty.

Labour’s plans were unveiled after polls showed eight out of ten voters believe the immigration system is in chaos.

The proposals include lengthening the waiting period to settle from four years to five and stopping chain migration by banning new arrivals from inviting extended families to join them.

Admission of the low-skilled from non-EU countries will be phased out, except for fixed periods in shortage areas. This would stop waiters, labourers and factory workers finding a legal route into Britain.

Bosses using illegal workers will face a £2,000 on-the-spot fine for each one.

Home Secretary Charles Clarke heralded the blueprint as a “simpler, clearer, more effective scheme”.

Tories roared with laughter as he told the Commons: “This will build on the major progress we have made in recent years.”

Mr Davis called the immigration system “confused, weak and chaotic”.

• TONY Blair had some good news last night — support for Labour is up three per cent, according to a Populus poll.

  Labour are on 41 per cent, while the Tories are down one on 32 per cent, with the Lib Dems on 18 per cent.

  But on the day Mr Blair’s immigration policy was revealed, the subject was one of just two issues in which Labour trailed the Tories.

   

  How it will work   LABOUR’S blueprint will make it harder for immigrants to enter Britain — either legally or illegally. The key proposals are:

• A POINTS SYSTEM — based on skills, qualifications and ability to speak English — in order to work or study here.

   

• ONLY SKILLED workers will be allowed to stay, after passing a “Britishness” test. Low-skilled economic migrants would not meet the points threshold.

   

   

• CASH BONDS of up to £6,000 paid by those from lands with a history of asylum abuse. Refunded on return to homeland. This would price out those with bogus claims.

   

• CHAIN MIGRATION halted by axing settlement rights for immigrants’ families.

   

• ENDING RIGHT OF APPEAL for those seeking to enter Britain to work or study.

   

• FIXED PENALTY FINES of £2,000 on bosses for each illegal worker they have in their employment.

   

• ASYLUM SEEKERS would only get temporary leave to stay. If the situation in their country is no better after five years, they get permanent status. Otherwise, they would be expected to return.

   

• MORE DETENTION of failed asylum-seekers with 300 new places and electronic tagging by 2007.

   

• FINGERPRINTING or iris-scanning of visa applicants from countries known for asylum abuse. Airlines to copy travel documents to avoid them being destroyed in mid-air.  

[Stoat]

The Sun Newspaper Online - UK's biggest selling newspaper

Who delivers?

PROMISES, promises, promises. Both parties have given us plenty on the crucial immigration issue.

First it was the Tories, with their sensible plan for a points system to make it easier for highly-skilled workers to settle here.

Lo and behold, yesterday it was Labour’s turn with their equally sensible plan for an almost identical system.

There are differences between their policies, of course.

The Tories would set an annual limit on the number of people allowed to work and live here.

Labour wouldn’t, but would be tough on the low-skilled from non-EU countries. And there would be fines for bosses who hire illegal workers.

BOTH parties agree with The Sun that immigrant workers who want to succeed and make a better life for their families are of immense economic benefit to the nation.

All skilled people should be welcomed with open arms, especially those in the fields of medicine, IT, finance and engineering.

For Sun readers, who we know are deeply concerned about immigration and asylum, there is a decision to be made between now and the election.

Who can deliver the goods?

Labour have had eight years in which hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants sneaked in and the success rate of deporting failed asylum seekers has been miserable.

Two of the policies announced yesterday weren’t even new and fingerprint checks are years away.

The Tories say they will handle asylum applications abroad, but cannot tell us where or how.

And they have not convincingly answered Labour’s assertion that they would make severe cuts to the immigration service.

Tony Blair accepts the public has “justifiable concerns,” not least the strain being placed on limited resources in health, education, housing and transport.

Voters must decide soon whether it is Labour or the Tories who can deliver.

[Stoat]

Hopefully our British Friends will be able to sort this out in a meaningful way....and their solutions may help us to decide what works and what doesn't.

[drt1]

Gee - I didn't know Blair was a Racist. /sarc

[Malesherbes]

"confront a mounting mess" - glad we don't have a problem like that.

[solzhenitsyn]

Interesting. I've long wished that the US had a special program to admit and educate prodigiously gifted persons from the developing world (say, the brightest five or ten thousand individuals we could find per year, from the entire world, who wanted to come here). It wouldn't be easy to do. For instance, the only practical way to select the most gifted applicants would be through the use of standardized tests, and it would be tough to keep the tests from being compromised. But the benefits of such a program could be great. I would expect that most selectees would stay in this country and contribute to our society and technology after they finished their education. Some would return to their home countries, taking their experiences of life in America with them. They wouldn't all love us, but I expect that on the whole, it would be very worthwhile.

[drt1]

Student exchange programs are pretty close to what you describe. That, coupled with liberal issuance of student visas and financial aid available to most anyone qualified would seem to be pretty close.

[solzhenitsyn]

Remember how many of the great scientists of the day came to this country during World War II, and many of them stayed here after the war and contributed to our technological base? It would be great if we could find a way to duplicate that today. One wonders how many potential Einsteins are out there now, in Afghanistan, Botswana, Zaire, ... who knows?

[television is just wrong]

timesonline.co.uk

[JustAnotherSavage]

DOBBS: Let me show you something that may strike you -- -- what the prime minister of the United Kingdom had to say today on immigration.

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER(video): The public concern about this is very simple. It's a play by the rules concern. It's a concern that people, for example, who come in to claim asylum should be genuine refugees, that people who come in to work or study here should genuinely be coming in to work or study, and therefore what you need in place are strict controls that work in the interest of the country that means that only the people who play by the rules come in, and those that don't, DON'T!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1338650/posts

[Red Sea Swimmer]

Good decision by Mr.Blair and his advisors.