A selection of recent media reports
IMMIGRATION CAP IS RIGHT EVER since the Government introduced a cap on immigration from outside the European Union there.. Daily Express (19-Nov-2010)
90,000 opportunities to improve UK IT We are constantly being told that the private sector will rescue the economy and create jobs - well now. IT, Technology & Computing Blogs - ComputerWeekly.com (Bryan Glick) (19-Nov-2010)
NINE ARRESTED FOLLOWING DRUG RAIDS IN STEVENAGE NINE people were arrested and a quantity of drugs and cash seized following a series of warrants... Hertfordshire Constabulary (By Corporate Communication Dept) (19-Nov-2010)
Migrant work visas may go up for sale Migrant work visas could be auctioned off to employers who are "prepared to pay whatever amount"... Yahoo! Finance UK (Louisa Peacock) (19-Nov-2010)
Migration cap 'means slashing student visas and foreign workers tens of thousands' Tens of thousands of students and foreign workers must be refused visas every year if the government is. Mail Online (James Slack) (19-Nov-2010)
Stop being so generous to migrants: French plea to Britain after Dunkirk suburb is over-run The mayor of a French village invaded by migrants has called on Britain to halt handouts to deter them from crossing the Channel. Daily Mail (19-Nov-2010)
Birkenhead MP Frank Fields five point plan to cut immigration A FIVE-POINT plan to reduce the level of immigration into Britain was put forward by a... Wirralnews.co.uk (Liverpool Echo) (19-Nov-2010)
Foreign student must take brunt in immigration cuts, says adviser Foreign students from outside the EU will have to be slashed by more than half if the Government is to.. Telegraph.co.uk (By Tom Whitehead, Home Affairs Editor) (19-Nov-2010)
Nurse locked in car boot claims abductor shown more respect A nurse who spent 10 days locked in a car boot has claimed her abductor has been shown more respect by.. Herald Scotland (BRIAN DONNELLY) (19-Nov-2010)
Pastor admits immigration fraud in UK By Kat Baldwyn, A Birmingham pastor forged documents in a bid to help foreign nationals enter the UK... Zim Diaspora (Editor) (19-Nov-2010)
FLOODS OF FOREIGN STUDENTS MUST BE HALTED, SAY EXPERTS THE number of foreign students coming to Britain from outside the EU must be slashed by more than half.. Express.co.uk (By Martyn Brown) (19-Nov-2010)
100S OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ARE ON THE RUN MORE than 100 failed asylum seekers have gone missing after being ordered to leave the... Daily Star (Craig Woodhouse) (19-Nov-2010)
Student visas 'must be slashed by half' to meet immigration target The number of students coming to Britain from outside the European Union will need to be more than... The Scotsman (By Russell Jackson) (19-Nov-2010)
Rebuttal of Briefing by the Mayor of London
Back Bench Debate on Immigration The Scale of immigration 17 November, 2010
The GLA Briefing claims (paragraph 4) that "net international migration in 2009 was at its lowest level since mid 1995 which is comparable to the government’s target". This is quite wrong. As the paper recognises elsewhere, net international migration in 2009 is estimated at 196,000; in 1995 it was 76,000. The central point is that the average over the past five years has been 200,000 while the ONS projection for 70 million in 20 years is based on the assumption that net migration will continue at 180,000.
The economic impact
The GLA claim that, “If numbers fall in line with government targets… there would be a negative impact of about -1% on GDP”. This is based on a Financial Times article of 18 June which is faulty for reasons fully explained in a Migrationwatch press release of 19 July. Briefly, their calculation assumed that, over a 5 year period, the growth of output would be entirely constrained by the growth of the population over the age of 16. However, with 2.5 million unemployed a shortage of labour is not the main constraint on output.
Furthermore, this claim ignores the point that what matters, as the House of Lords Select Committee on Economic Affairs pointed out, is GDP per head. There is nothing in the GLA briefing to suggest that this might fall.
Students
The corrected briefing claims that "80% of overseas students leave the UK within 5 years of entering". In fact, the Home Office research to which they were referring found that 80% were "no longer in the system". That is not to say that they had left the country. There are still no records of departure. In fact, there is anecdotal evidence to suggest that overstaying students are a significant part of net migration.
To watch the debate on 18 November click here
Independent Chief Inspector of the Border Agency’s report on entry clearance in Abu Dhabi and Islamabad, published 4 November 2010 8 November, 2010
The report “covers the inspection of the Abu Dhabi and Islamabad visa sections, examining the handling of applications made by customers in Pakistan, Iran and three member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Dubai). The inspection included a detailed assessment of cases “…..in the categories of General Visit and Tier 4 of the points-based system (PBS)” and an assessment of UKBA’s “customer strategy” together with the benefits UKBA had set out for the Hub and Spoke (H&S) business model, which were to:
- improve quality and consistency of decision making;
- improve efficiency and productivity; and
- provide greater resilience and flexibility.
to read the full text of this paper click here
Press Release
Background brief: Intra-Company Transfers 17 November, 2010
The Prime Minister announced on 3 November that work permits for Intra-Company Transfers would not be subject to a cap.
On 5 November, the Home Secretary, speaking at the Policy Exchange Think Tank, hinted at imposing a minimum salary.
Meanwhile, leaks from Brussels suggest that the government will agree to a commitment to accept up to 20,000 Indian workers per year as part of the EU/India Free Trade Agreement.
The Briefing Paper No 3.12 sets out evidence suggesting that this route is being abused. It calls for a number of changes, notably a minimum salary of £50,000 a year.
Brussels Leak Reveals Britain to Take Major Share of Indian IT Workers
8 November, 2010Documents leaked from the European Commission reveal the true state of negotiations with India for the preferential admission of IT workers to the EU. The UK's quota for some worker categories is 40% of the entire EU commitment – almost three times that of Germany and almost seven times that of France.
The Commission is preparing to offer India 35,000 to 50,000 work permits per year, for the categories of Independent Professionals (IPs) and Contractual Service Suppliers (CSS). This offer is part of the response to Indian demands for labour access, within the negotiations for an EU/India Free Trade Agreement being held in secret.
While this is a figure for the number of visas the EU commits to offering, it does not limit how many a member state actually offers.
An unidentified number of visas for a further category, 'Intracorporate Transferees' (ICTs), that is workers brought in to work for their Indian company in the EU, will be additional to these disproportionate quotas for the UK in the CSS and IP categories.
With the Prime Minister's announcement this week that ICTs will be excluded from the government’s 'immigration cap', numbers for this category will not be subject to a UK limit.
The breakdown between member states has been based on the share of the working population of each member state in the relevant sectors and on the share of member states in the total number work permits granted to Indian migrants in the past by EU members, taken together. The effect of this is that Britain's quota is 40% of the total while the UK population is only 12% of the EU. Britain would be committed to up to 20,000, Germany 7,000, France 3,000 and Italy 2,600.
A footnote to the document reveals that some countries have insisted on a cap to Indian workers - ironically, most of them are new East European members.
The negotiations are now well advanced and a deal may be finalised in next week's negotiating Round.
Said Sir Andrew Green, Chairman Migrationwatch UK: ‘This looks suspiciously like a side door to Britain for 15,000 - 20,000 Indian IT workers every year. It is even more astonishing coming at a time when British IT workers are finding it increasingly difficult to find employment and there is a 17% unemployment rate amongst computer science graduates who left university last year. It is time to end the secrecy and for the government to come clean with what is going on and what, if any, safeguards are being put in place.’
Posts
