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Nick Clegg proposes immigration 'security bonds' Clegg backs 'security bonds' as he sets out immigration stance
(about 1 hour later)
Nick Clegg has called for a bail-like system of security bonds to tackle abuse of immigration visas. Nick Clegg has made his biggest intervention to date in the debate on immigration, calling for cash deposits of more than £1,000 for some migrants.
In his first speech on immigration as deputy prime minister, Mr Clegg said applicants from "high risk" countries would pay cash guarantees to be repaid when they leave. The deposit would be paid by visa applicants from "high risk" countries and repaid when they leave the UK.
He has asked the Home Office to pilot the idea. The deputy prime minister said migrants made a huge contribution but there must be "zero tolerance" of abuses.
It comes as Mr Clegg's Liberal Democrat colleague, Vince Cable, hits out at the coalition's immigration policy. "Mainstream" parties had to "wrestle the issue from populists and extremists," he added.
In an interview with Parliamentary magazine The House, the business secretary disowns the government's target of reducing net migration to below 100,000 by 2015, saying it is a Tory and not a Lib Dem policy. It came as Mr Clegg's Liberal Democrat colleague, Vince Cable, disowned a target of reducing net migration to below 100,000 by 2015, saying it was a Conservative policy, not a coalition one.
'Long chat' Mr Clegg insisted the business secretary was fully behind the security bond idea and that they also agreed on the issue of the migration cap, despite the more critical tone of Mr Cable's
He suggests Tory ministers are being disingenuous to quote it as an example of the government getting to grips with immigration, as they did at the recent Eastleigh by-election, because it refers to non-EU migration only. 'Overstayers'
Sources close to Mr Cable say he had "long chat" on immigration with Mr Clegg on Thursday and there is "not a cigarette paper between them" on immigration and he is "110%" behind the cash bonds policy. The security bond idea was floated several times by the previous Labour government but never implemented.
In his speech, Mr Clegg said the party would be reviewing its immigration policies in the run-up to the next election and had dropped plans put forward in 2010 to offer illegal immigrants living in the UK for ten years an "earned route" to citizenship, saying it risked undermining public confidence. It has been criticised in the past as "half-baked" and "clearly discriminatory' by Lib Dem deputy leader Simon Hughes but Mr Clegg urged critics to reconsider it, saying it could be a "useful, additional tool".
He pledged to "lay the foundations for an immigration system that embodies this nation's instincts and its values" of tolerance and openness but one that also commanded public support. "If we get this right, there is no reason why this cannot make the system work more efficiently," he said.
But he said Labour left the system "in disarray", highlighting visa "overstayers", people coming to the UK for holidays or as students and remaining in the country illegally, as one of the biggest problems facing it. Labour had a "lamentable record" on immigration, he added, and "just because they could not get it right does not mean we cannot do it better".
To tackle this issue, he has asked the Home Office to run a pilot of "security bonds", which echoes an idea floated by the previous Labour government but never implemented. Mr Clegg pledged to "lay the foundations for an immigration system that embodies this nation's instincts and its values" of tolerance and openness but one that also commanded public support.
It is understood the cost of the bonds would vary but are likely to be in the region of four figures. Mr Clegg said they should be "proportionate" and not penalise those seeking to come for legitimate reasons. He said he had asked the Home Office to pilot security bonds, which he says will tackle the problem of visa "overstayers" - people coming to the UK for holidays or as students and remaining in the country illegally.
"The bonds would need to be well targeted - so that they don't unfairly discriminate against particular groups," Mr Clegg said. 'Closed sign'
'Public anxiety' The deputy prime minister also revealed plans to increase cash penalties for "unscrupulous" employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants because they are cheaper. The maximum fine is £10,000 per illegal worker and Mr Clegg called for a doubling of penalties.
The deputy prime minister also revealed plans to increase cash penalties for "unscrupulous" employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants because they are cheaper. Addressing public concerns over the impact of immigration on jobs and communities, has become a key challenge for the party leaders at Westminster amid a rise in support for the UK Independence Party, which appeared to strike a chord with voters in the Eastleigh by-election on the issue.
The maximum fine is £10,000 per illegal worker - Mr Clegg called for the penalty to "double" and has asked the home secretary to "look into the right amount". Ed Miliband has reshaped Labour's policy in recent months and David Cameron will set out what the government has done to tighten controls on Monday.
Mr Clegg and Mr Cable have both distanced themselves from the coalition's net migration target in the past. Mr Clegg and Mr Cable have both distanced themselves from a targeted reduction in net migration - the difference between the number of people arriving in the UK and those leaving - from over 200,000 in recent years to the tens of thousands.
But Mr Clegg made a point in his speech of praising the coalition's progress on taking control of the immigration system, saying the two parties were "working together" and "net migration has fallen by a third" since 2010. But Mr Cable went further in an interview with the House magazine, saying it had led many Chinese and Indian people to believe the UK had a "Britain is closed sign", with potentially disastrous results for the economy.
Migration targets 'Earned route'
Mr Cable strikes a more critical tone in his House magazine interview, saying of the net migration target: "It isn't government policy, it is Conservative policy. He also suggested Tory ministers were being disingenuous to quote it as an example of the government getting to grips with immigration, as they did at the recent Eastleigh by-election, because it refers to non-EU migration only.
"And it's also not true because that policy purely relates to non-EU people. We have obviously no control over the European Union and that is actually where much of the movement comes. "We have obviously no control over the European Union and that is actually where much of the movement comes. And a lot of the public anxiety which is experienced in by-elections and elsewhere has actually been about people from Eastern Europe.
"And a lot of the public anxiety which is experienced in by-elections and elsewhere has actually been about people from Eastern Europe.
"Now, you can argue whether that's a good thing or a bad thing but it's got nothing to do with the non-EU, which is the area which is controlled by government."Now, you can argue whether that's a good thing or a bad thing but it's got nothing to do with the non-EU, which is the area which is controlled by government.
"The reducing to under 100,000 is not government policy and it would be unattainable without, if it was attainable enormous damage would be done, notably through overseas students, which is one of the biggest components, actually.""The reducing to under 100,000 is not government policy and it would be unattainable without, if it was attainable enormous damage would be done, notably through overseas students, which is one of the biggest components, actually."
He suggests the only way the target could realistically be achieved, without harming industry and universities, would be if the Tories "increase the number of people emigrating". Mr Clegg also said the Lib Dems had dropped plans put forward in 2010 to offer illegal immigrants living in the UK for ten years an "earned route" to citizenship, saying it risked undermining public confidence.
And he say the policy had led many Chinese and Indian people to believe the UK had a "Britain is closed sign", with potentially disastrous results for the economy.