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UK about to close door to immigrants, america next?
How mass migration has divided our society: David Cameron savages Labour's open-door policy
- Welfare system has turned neighbourhoods into 'ghettos'
- High immigration has created 'discomfort and disjointedness'
- Labour to blame for growth of extremist parties like BNP
Mr Cameron will say immigration has been 'too high' for many years
Britain has been torn apart by the biggest influx of immigrants in history, David Cameron will admit today.
The Prime Minister will blame a welfare system which has paid Britons to stay idle and foreign jobseekers ‘not really wanting or even willing to integrate’ for turning neighbourhoods into ghettos.
Immigration has been ‘too high’ for many years and has created ‘discomfort and disjointedness’ across the country, he will say.
In his first major speech on the issue since becoming Prime Minister, Mr Cameron will make the explosive claim that Labour is to blame for allowing extremist parties such as the BNP to flourish by dismissing legitimate concerns about mass immigration as ‘racist’.
And he will insist that measures being implemented by the Coalition will cut immigration by up to 75 per cent from its peak. He will say annual net immigration levels will fall from around 200,000 in recent years to the ‘tens of thousands’ seen under the Thatcher and Major governments.
Mr Cameron will spell out a series of steps the Government is taking to bring down numbers of immigrants, including:
■ A limit on the number of skilled workers coming from outside Europe of 27,000 this year;
■ A minimum age of 21 for spouses coming to the UK;
■ A crackdown on student visas to cut the number issued by 80,000 a year;
■ Limits on ‘health tourism’ and illegal workers claiming benefits;
■ Welfare reforms to end the option of a life on the dole for British workers.
His remarks will be the strongest on immigration by a Prime Minister for more than 20 years and could trigger a political furore.
Critics are likely to question the timing of the speech, just a few weeks before local elections in which the Tories are anxious to shore up their core vote.
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It also risks a row with some Liberal Democrat members of the Coalition, particularly Vince Cable. Mr Cameron will reject the Business Secretary’s warnings that limiting the number of foreign workers and students risks damaging British companies and universities.
Addressing party members in Hampshire, the Prime Minister will insist immigration is one of the chief concerns of voters and that it is the role of politicians to speak about it ‘sensibly and reasonably’.
Mr Cameron said the Coalition's measures will cut immigration by up to 75 per cent from its peak
He will say that Britain has benefited ‘immeasurably’ from immigrant workers and entrepreneurs, pointing to their contribution to the NHS, schools, charities, financial services, fashion, food and music.
But he will add: ‘I’m also clear about something else: for too long, immigration has been too high.
‘Between 1997 and 2009, 2.2million more people came to live in this country than left to live abroad. That’s the largest influx of people Britain has ever had, and it has placed real pressures on communities up and down the country.
‘Not just pressures on schools, housing and healthcare – though those have been serious – but social pressures too.’
Mr Cameron will argue that communities are ‘forged by friendship and conversation’, whether on the school run or ‘down the pub’.
‘These bonds can take time, so real integration takes time,’ he will add.
‘That’s why, when there have been significant numbers of new people arriving in neighbourhoods, perhaps not able to speak the same language as those living there, on occasions not really wanting or even willing to integrate, that has created a kind of discomfort and disjointedness in some neighbourhoods.
‘This has been the experience for many people in our country – and I believe it is untruthful and unfair not to speak about it and address it.’
In the most provocative passage, the Prime Minister will say Labour must take responsibility for the rise of the BNP, the English Defence League and other far-Right organisations.
Mr Cameron will also say Labour should take responsibility for the rise in far right organisations like the English Defence League
‘On the one hand, there were Labour ministers who closed down discussion, giving the impression that concerns about immigration were somehow racist,’ he will say.
‘On the other, there were ministers hell-bent on burnishing their hard-line credentials by talking tough, but doing nothing to bring the numbers down.
‘This approach had damaging consequences in terms of controlling immigration but also in terms of public debate.
‘It created the space for extremist parties to flourish, as they could tell people that mainstream politicians weren’t listening to their concerns or doing anything about them.’
The Prime Minister will point out that around 75 per cent of the 2.5million jobs created since 1997 have gone to foreign-born workers.
‘The real issue is this: migrants are filling gaps in the labour market left wide open by a welfare system that for years has paid British people not to work,’ he will add.
‘That’s where the blame lies – at the door of our woeful welfare system, and the last government who comprehensively failed to reform it. We will never control immigration properly unless we tackle welfare dependency.’
Overall, he will insist, the Government’s measures will bring net migrant numbers back down to the levels of the 1990s.
That would mean around 50,000 immigrants a year being allowed to settle in Britain, a fall of three-quarters on the numbers seen under Labour.
‘Yes, Britain will always be open to the best and brightest from around the world and those fleeing persecution,’ he will pledge.
‘But with us, our borders will be under control and immigration will be at levels our country can manage. No ifs, no buts. That’s a promise we made to the British people. And it’s a promise we are keeping.’
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