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EU PLOT TO FORCE BRITAIN TO TAKE MORE MIGRANTS

Britain could be forced to accept a fresh wave of migrant workers from India under EU plans

Monday November 8,2010

By Macer Hall, Political Editor

BRITAIN could be forced to accept a fresh wave of migrant workers from India under secret plans being discussed in Brussels, a leaked document reveals.

Officials want the UK to take 40 per cent of up to 50,000 Indian skilled migrants expected to come to Europe every year under a new international free trade agreement, European Union discussion papers show.

The proposed quota of migrants for the UK under the deal is set to be almost seven times that proposed for France, the EU document reveals.

Critics were furious last night to discover that Eurocrats were plotting to order Britain to take more migrants at a time when the Government is attempting to drastically cut the annual influx.

The document was obtained by the pressure group Migrationwatch.

Sir Andrew Green, chairman of the group, said: “This looks suspiciously like a side door to Britain for 15,000 to 20,000 Indian IT (information technology) 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 per cent unemployment rate among computer science graduates who left university last year.”

The quota system is being discussed as part of negotiations for a new free trade agreement between India and the EU to be signed next month.

The plan is to give Indian IT workers, engineers and managers easy passage into Europe in return for European companies gaining access to India’s huge domestic market.

Under the current plan, the share of newcomers between EU member states will be based on the proportion of the working population employed in IT, engineering and management and the nation’s past record in handing out work permits to people from India.

Britain’s proposed quota of migrants is set at 40 per cent of the total even though the country’s population is only equivalent to 12 per cent of the EU.

The UK would therefore be committed to taking in up to 20,000 migrants, Germany 7,000, France 3,000 and Italy only 2,600. The move threatens to undermine the Government’s drive to curb levels of immigration.

Tory MP Mark Pritchard said: “Whilst I support extending free trade with India, strict immigration controls should not be sacrificed.” It is understood that the issue has led to a split within the coalition Government.

Lib Dem Business Secretary Vince Cable – who has already succeeded in watering down border controls – is believed to be enthusiastic about the shake-up while Tory Home Secretary Theresa May is concerned about the immigration implications.

Ministers have pledged to reduce annual net immigration to the UK from 176,000 to the “tens of thousands.”

But a report last week by the Commons Home Affairs Committee warned that the proposed cap could only affect one in 100 immigrants.

Allowing up to 20,000 Indian skilled migrants to come to Britain each year would drastically undermine the pledge.

A spokesman for the Department for Business Innovation and Skills said: “The EU India Free Trade Agreement will have considerable benefits to UK businesses trading with India. Of course we will ensure that any commitments placed on the UK by this agreement will be consistent with the Government’s commitment to reduce net migration.”