Interviewed by Andrew Marr on BBC 1 on Sunday morning, Nick Clegg was clearly struggling to defend Lib Dem immigration policy. Commenting, Sir Andrew Green, Chairman, MigrationwatchUK, said: “It is shocking that the leader of one of the main political parties should be so poorly informed about an issue of enormous concern to the public. As a result Lib Dem policies on immigration can only be described as laughable.” - what about the following year when those who have been here nine years would qualify…..and so on? To “deal with” the present crop of illegals the amnesty would have to last for ten years, otherwise it would only deal with a relatively small proportion of the one million or more now here. - What about proving ten years residence when, by definition, there are no documents? - What about the risk of fraud? An American amnesty in the mid 1980s was found to attract 75% fraudulent applications from Mexicans[1] In Australia such work permits are only about 5% of total immigration which is itself subject to an overall policy driven limit – something that the Lib Dems oppose. In Canada the Provinces can decide who they wish to bring in on a permanent basis but their right to move to other provinces is guaranteed under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. As a result many enter through the Quebec programme and then move to British Columbia. Thus the scheme does not achieve the aim described by Clegg. There are now over a million illegal immigrants in Britain according to a new report out today from Migrationwatch. The report examined the only two previous studies - one commissioned by the Home Office in 2005 and the other produced by the London School of Economics in 2009 for the Mayor of London. The report explains that the LSE study severely underestimates the number of people who have entered Britain illegally and those who have come on a visa but have overstayed. It concludes that their previous central estimate of 618,000 should be revised to 1.1 million. Commenting Sir Andrew Green, Chairman of Migrationwatch UK said, "It is hard to understand why anyone should suggest that people who have cheated the system for ten years should be rewarded with British citizenship and full access to the welfare state. It seems that the law applies to Brits but not to immigrants. What is more, we are talking here about over a million people - a number which would eventually be doubled by relatives who would acquire a right to come here. It is hard to think of a more crazy suggestion for wasting billions of pounds of tax payers money when the government is already broke". Voters in Great Britain were asked whether they supported or opposed the Lib Dem policy of giving a two year work permit leading to permanent settlement to those who have been living illegally in the UK for ten years, subject to civic and language tests. 54% were opposed (36% strongly) while only 30% were in favour (5% strongly). 11% neither supported or opposed the policy and 3% did not know. Of those intending to vote Lib Dem, less than half supported the policy. The other flagship policy is to offer special incentives to encourage economic migrants to settle in less populated regions of the UK. As Scotland is most frequently mentioned by the Lib Dems in this context, voters there were asked for their opinion. They opposed it by almost two to one. 51% were opposed (30% strongly) while only 27% supported the proposal (6% strongly). 20% neither supported nor opposed and 2% did not know. Again, of Lib Dem supporters in Scotland, less than half supported this proposal. Commenting, Sir Andrew Green, Chairman of MigrationwatchUK who commissioned the poll from YouGov, said “When people look more closely at Lib Dem immigration policy they realise just how weak it is. They can see that what amounts to an amnesty will simply encourage further illegal immigration as both Italy with five amnesties and Spain with six in the past 25 years have found to their cost. As for the much touted regional immigration policy it is clearly unpopular even in Scotland which they invariably mention as a candidate. No wonder less than half their supporters agree with these policies.” 2 YouGov are a member of the British Polling Council and abide by their rules BBC 'Reality Check' concludes that in respect of those of working age the vast bulk of net job creation since 1997 appears to have benefited workers not born in the UK. On balance, job prospects for British-born people have risen slightly since 1997, but those workers have been hit much harder by the recession than workers born outside the UK. The increase in jobs for native-born workers has been dwarfed by the number of British-born people, of all ages, who have left the country. A very powerful Panorama programme on Monday night has turned the focus back to the prospect of the UK's population reaching 70 million in 20 years' time, followed by substantial further growth. Whether or not this projection is credible lies at the very heart of the immigration debate. These projections are produced by the government's own statisticians in the Office for National Statistics (ONS), now under the aegis of the newly independent UK Statistics Authority. Obviously such projections become more uncertain the further ahead one looks. The government makes hay with a 1960s projection for the following 40 years which, by 2000, was spectacularly wrong. Back then the ONS assumed that the baby boom would continue – and it didn't….. Read the Full Article The decision handed down by the Court of Appeal on 15 April 2010 in the case ofSukdarshan Singh v. The Secretary of State for the Home Department 2010[EWCA] Civ. 3 has attracted a certain amount of adverse comment in the media. The appellant was appealing against a decision of the Secretary of State to make a deportation order against him and to refuse him indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom. 2 The appellant is an Indian national born in 1954 who entered the UK unlawfully in 1984 and has remained here since then without leave. In 1988 he committed the offence of rape against a 59 year old woman. The offence was reported at the time and a DNA sample of the appellant was taken, but he was not prosecuted for the offence until 2006, when he was arrested in connection with driving with excess alcohol and other motoring offences. A DNA sample taken was matched with the earlier sample and the appellant was charged with rape. Initially he pleaded not guilty but changed his plea to guilty in the course of the trial. He was sentenced to 4 years 6 months imprisonment and required to register as a sex offender for life. In 1991 he had married a woman who was an Indian national but who became a British citizen in 1993. There are two children of the marriage who are now age 18 and 16 and are both British citizens….. Read the Full Briefing Paper No 8.39
Press Releases
Clegg struggles on immigration policy
1987/88 1990 1996 1998 2002 119,000 235,000 259,000 308,000 700,000 1985/86 1991 1996 2000 2001 2005 44,000 135,000 21,000 127,000 314,000 700,000 Over a Million Illegal Immigrants in the UK
Lib Dem immigration policies get thumbs down from the public and their own supporters
MigrationWatch Comment
BBC Election 2010 Have British jobs gone to British Workers?
Press Article
Briefing Paper
Deportation and Human Rights
Monday, 26 April 2010
April 25, 2010
1 Amnesty
Clegg claimed that his amnesty for those illegals who had been here ten years would be a “one off” measure but;
- What about European experience with Amnesties? Here is the experience of Spain and Italy[2]:
Italy
Spain
2 Regional Work Permits
Obviously impractical in British conditions as Andrew Marr pointed out. However, Clegg claimed that it works in Australia and Canada.
3 Overall limit
Clegg claimed that most immigration is from the EU. This is false. Net immigration from the EU 15 has averaged only 20,000 over the past ten years. Net immigration from Eastern Europe is already falling (to 20,000 in 2008)[3]
irregular%20migrants%20full%20report.pdf page 24, para3
April, 25 2010
April, 19 2010
Lib Dem policies on immigration have failed to convince voters. Indeed, less than half their own supporters agree with them.
Notes to Editors:
1 The survey was carried out by YouGov between 14 – 16 April. The sample sizes were 2,244 adults for GB and 1,022 adults for Scotland. The surveys were carried out online. They are weighted and are representative of all adults in the respective countries.
April, 21 2010
We need a radical immigration policy
Despite debate about population growth figures, the problem of immigration in the UK is clear. The government must take action
By Sir Andrew Green
Chairman, Migration Watch UK
The Guardian, London, 21 April, 2010
April, 20 2010
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