Cameron's immigration plans are absurd in face of latest figures
|
Version 0 of 1. The latest official figures showing a near-record level of net migration to the UK confirm that Britain remains, as it has done for the last 20 years, a country of high migration. Most of the latest increase to 318,000 is fuelled by a 70,000-strong rise in the numbers coming to work in Britain’s expanding economy from both within and outside Europe. Many are skilled people coming to work in specific jobs and, as the Office for Budget Responsibility has detailed, are partly driving the very growth that is attracting them to Britain in the first place. But they are not all taking British jobs: while there were 294,000 more foreign nationals working in Britain in the last year, there were also 279,000 more Britons in work. Against these central economic facts, David Cameron’s latest attempt to pretend he can reduce net migration to “tens of thousands a year” look unenforceable. The plan to seize the wages of “illegal immigrants” working illegally is as absurd as it is tautological. There may well be a loophole that prevents those who have overstayed their visas being prosecuted for working illegally, but there is no doubt that action can be taken against them for being in the country illegally, including deportation. With many working cash-in-hand in the hidden economy, the idea that the police will be able to use the notoriously ineffective Proceeds of Crime Act to seize their wages looks optimistic. It is good to see there is now cross-party consensus on tackling the exploitation generated by the hidden labour market. There have been few criminal prosecutions of employers of illegal labour in recent years, partly as a result of the demand for a “light touch” by Michael Howard when the then employment secretary introduced the offence in 1996. But a concerted drive to enforce those existing powers might yield more dividends than targeting individual migrants. The new package of measures, including the power to require banks to check whether their customers are in the country illegally, is intended to “create a hostile environment” even before the ink has dried on last year’s package to do exactly the same thing. So far the requirement for landlords to check on their new tenants has only been rolled out in the West Midlands, and it is only a matter of weeks since every hospital A&E department has required every new patient to fill out a form about their immigration status. The only difference this time is that we haven’t yet seen the “go home vans” being driven around inner city areas where there are high numbers of migrants. The latest migration figures show that last year’s drive against illegal immigration has been far from a success. Voluntary departures fell from 32,000 to 23,000 in the 12 months to March, while enforced departures were down by 3% to 12, 498. It may be that Cameron should stop pretending he can produce deep cuts in migration levels and instead get on with managing its impact, particularly in areas of rapid population change. The Conservative manifesto included a pledge to introduce a controlling migration fund to ease pressures on services. Perhaps it is time we heard a little more about that. |