Gordon Brown to admit ‘mistakes’ on immigration

[Ariel]

We'll stem rising tide of migration: PM finally promises action... starting with a curb on doctors


Gordon Brown will today pledge to close the door to foreign doctors and a string of other professions as part of a crackdown to cut immigration into Britain.

After a decade in which Labour has allowed immigration on an unprecedented scale, England is now almost twice as crowded as Germany and four times as crowded as France.

But now the Prime Minister is insisting that he will not allow the population to soar to 70million over the next 20 years as official forecasts predict.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Mr Brown signalled a major shift in his Government's immigration policy as he admitted it had put key public services in some parts of the country under severe strain.

In what will be seized on by opponents as an admission that existing restrictions are too lax, he pledged to tighten the new points-based entry system before the next election.
Speaking ahead of his first major speech on immigration as Prime Minister, he said: 'A few years ago we had to allow into the country - and we benefited from it - very highly skilled medical staff. We have now done a huge amount to train a new generation of medical staff in our country.'
'We are now looking at how we can close the skills gap in this country so we can take occupations off the list where we need to recruit from abroad. Immigration will fall.'

The NHS had a critical shortage of doctors and other health professionals when Labour came to power, and staff from abroad were encouraged to come and work.

More than 40,000 have been recruited in recent years.

But the Government has faced controversy as homegrown junior doctors have struggled to find jobs.

Mr Brown's personal intervention is part of the Government's belated recognition that its handling of immigration has helped alienate Labour's core white, working class vote.

Ministers concede that the lack of a proper debate on immigration has played into the hands of the far-Right BNP, which won two European Parliament seats earlier this year.

Controversy has been heightened by explosive claims by Andrew Neather, a former speechwriter to Tony Blair, that ministers allowed immigration to increase in part to make Britain 'truly multicultural' and to 'rub the Right's noses in diversity'.

Last week, Home Secretary Alan Johnson became the first to admit ministers had failed to grasp growing public concern about the pressures on jobs and public services, and had ignored problems about failed asylum seekers and foreign national prisoners.
Again today, Mr Johnson said it had taken a 'long time' to get on top of the issue and that the time delay in doing so had allowed for a 'huge influx in asylum seekers'.
However, Shadow immigration minister Damian Green claimed Mr Brown's plans would make 'very, very little different' to the number of migrants and job prospects.

'What the Government is doing is toughening up its rhetoric, but it's not actually changing the policy very much,' he said.

Mr Brown insisted that immigration had been a source of 'economic, social and cultural strength' for Britain.

'We have always been a diverse country,' he said. 'Britain's history is one of an open, trading nation at the heart of the global economy.'

But he added: 'I understand people's concerns when they hear suggestions that levels of immigration are going to rise. Especially in difficult economic times, people have concerns.

'I know people worry about whether immigration undermines their wages and the job prospects of their children and they also worry about whether they will get a decent home for their families.

'They want to be assured that the system is tough and fair. They want to be assured that newcomers to the country will accept their responsibilities... obey all the laws, speaking English is important, making a contribution.'

Mr Brown said the Government's latest assessments were that net migration, which hit more than 290,000 in 2005, has fallen by more than 40 per cent over the last year - and pledged it would fall further.

But he rejected the Tory approach of an annual limit on the number of non-EU migrants, calling it 'arbitrary'.

He said the points-based system, introduced last year to control the entry of non-EU citizens to the UK by grading incomers on the skills they can offer the country, would be further toughened up.

In his speech today, Mr Brown will say the door is being closed to non-EU hospital consultants, civil engineers, aircraft engineers and ship's officers.

'One of the reasons that immigration will fall is the tightening of the new points system and it will continue to tighten over the next few months,' he said.

'One of the reasons for the points system is to make sure that nobody without a skill will come into the country. We are looking at the kind of skills we as a country need.

We don't want as an open economy to stop businesses being able to recruit where it's an entirely specialist area. Companies keep telling us that this is absolutely important to their future.

'This is not an arbitrary cap. We are going to be setting out a programme for making sure that we in Britain can train our British young people and British workers who are looking for jobs.

'There is a new determination to train people in the skills that we need. We want to ensure... that we don't have to bring to the country people with skills when we can develop those skills quickly.'

Mr Brown insisted that ministers had taken action on immigration 'in the last two, two and a half years' - a pointed suggestion that the issue only began to be addressed when he became Prime Minister in the summer of 2007.

He said the biggest mistake over recent years had been the scrapping of embarkation controls - physically checking people in and out of the country.

Mr Brown said that ID cards for foreign workers - while controversial on the grounds of liberty - would help.

Mr Brown pledged that the measures the Government was taking would ensure the population would not reach 70million by 2029, as forecast by the Office of National Statistics.

'It won't,' he said. 'The points system that is now being tightened and being strengthened is having a major effect.'

Mr Brown added that in the past, there was an 'implicit assumption' that newcomers would behave well, learn English, get to know their neighbours and integrate with local community and faith groups.

But he added: 'Now we have got to be clear that the responsibilities that people accept are not implicit, they are explicit.

'People have to be sure that the person next door and the person in the next street is accepting their responsibility as a citizen.

'We ask people to show that they abide by our laws, we ask people to show that they understand our constitution and our democracy, we ask people to show that they understand the values of liberty, fair play and responsibility.'

The Conservatives highlighted new Home Office figures showing that in the first nine months of this year, 115,807 people passed the Government's citizenship test as evidence that there was 'no letup' in the number of people being allowed to stay in Britain.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling said: 'In the past few weeks it has become quite clear that the Government deliberately allowed hundreds of thousands of new people into Britain for party political reasons and then tried to cover it all up.

'The conduct of Labour Ministers has been disgraceful and it'll take a new administration to sort things out.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ctors.html

[Donnerschlag]

We'll stem rising tide of migration: PM finally promises action... starting with a curb on doctors


Gordon Brown will today pledge to close the door to foreign doctors and a string of other professions as part of a crackdown to cut immigration into Britain.

After a decade in which Labour has allowed immigration on an unprecedented scale, England is now almost twice as crowded as Germany and four times as crowded as France.

But now the Prime Minister is insisting that he will not allow the population to soar to 70million over the next 20 years as official forecasts predict.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Mr Brown signalled a major shift in his Government's immigration policy as he admitted it had put key public services in some parts of the country under severe strain.

Too little to late.Stop all muslim immigration immediately and deport the rest.

[sum]

I think that those with responsibility for this appalling error of judgement, in which they also claim that diversity and multiculturism has "enriched" Britain, should be made to live for 12mnths in the muslim dominated areas of Oldham(with JihadJedi as a neighbour), Bradford, Leicester or Blackburn.

Give them first hand experience of this "enrichment and diversity" of Britain that they so much laud for others. See how much they would appreciate feeling like a foreigner in a British city. It is the only way to make them understand the feelings of the people.

sum

[passerby]

Why doctors????? Are doctors dangerous and not contributing to the well being of the people? Are muslims better than the doctors?

[Psycho Bunny]

I think that those with responsibility for this appalling error of judgement, in which they also claim that diversity and multiculturism has "enriched" Britain, should be made to live for 12mnths in the muslim dominated areas of Oldham(with JihadJedi as a neighbour), Bradford, Leicester or Blackburn.

Jack Straw does live in Blackburn and he would never dare criticise Labour's open-door immigration policies.

[enceladus]

This so-called "policy change" is far too little, far too late.

It's a pathetic attempt to "steal the BNP's thunder", and I don't see it making much of an impact on their rising popularity.
- enceladus

[sum]

Hello PB

I know that our loyal friend, Jack Straw who puts his job before Britain, lives in Blackburn but does he live among a high density of muslims? I would doubt it but am prepared to be proven wrong.

sum

[pr126]

I believe that Jack Straw(man) may have a house in Blackburn, but being in the Parliament, he lives in London, close to work. On the taxpayer's expense.

I can't see him commuting on a daily basis. Or living on Muslim street for that matter.

[Brendalee]

One has to suspect that any "fall in immigration" is purely down to economic factors and that the vast majority of people who have left have been from the European Union and, coincidentally, mostly white and from a similar "Christian based culture".

While heavy Polish immigration has caused a certain resentment in very specific areas of the UK, I do not believe this is the cause of concern for most UK citizens. The real problem we have is with illegals who, when caught (a rare enough occurrence) then immediately claim asylum. They are virtually never deported, particularly when they come from a "sensitive" community.

And the leftists who claim that there is no such thing as a "bogus asylum seeker" are deluded or liars. People will use any method to get in, they will lie, cheat, pay people smugglers, forge documents and make bogus claims. Once in, they are virtually never pursued; those who get "caught" are nearly always apprehended by ACCIDENT and not by design. And, even then, VERY few are deported. In fact, laughably few. And this fact attracts MORE to come here.

When Labour decided to throw open the doors and "diversify", they were not referring to the immigration of "white" (Christian based culture) people from the EU or from anywhere else. Nor was their sole motive to cock a snook at the Conservatives. It is not a coincidence that our illegals, once here, are immediately housed and given a financial allowance - all at the taxpayers expense- "while their case is being looked into" by the Home Office. This most often takes YEARS, and in the meantime there are immigration lawyers helping them to get around the rules or prepare community activists to lobby MPs on their behalf. Many have destroyed their documents and are untraceable back to their place of origin.

The key factor is that these "diversified" immigrants are, once they achieve citizenship, OVERWHELMINGLY Labour voters.

With my own suspicious cynical mind, I believe this is Labour's long term plan in the face of the Scottish threat to leave the UK. If the Scottish Nationalists ever got their way and left the UK, Labour would be dead,dead,dead. They would never win another shot at government because only the support of Scottish voters makes that possible. (For non UK readers, I should point out that "Conservative" is overwhelmingly considered an obscene word in Scotland.)

So, what we see from Brown now is but a charade. It is not those who come here LEGALLY to work who are the problem. Most return home after a few years; or, like now, when the economy turns against them. The actions he is taking against them does NOTHING to curtail the "diversified" future Labour voters pouring in and often being supported long-term by the taxpayer. No, those who are to be curtailed are those from (key wording here...) "work related" immigration. (And, thus, almost by definition likely to become Conservative voters if they got citizenship.)

Edit: For those who dislike the term "Christian-based culture", read "Non-Muslim based culture" - probably more accurate because it does not exclude Hindus - who comprise only the TINIEST fraction of our immigration and who tend to come LEGALLY. But hopefully, you know what I was saying despite the imperfection of the terminology.

[RichardTheLionheart]

Brendalee is right, the threat of the SNP has damaged Labour in Scotland and without Scottish votes the Conservatives would pretty much stroll to victory in any election. Labour has lost ground in its traditional heartlands in England to the Liberal Democrats and they've divided the vote enough to give the Conservatives power overall.

When Labour say things like this you know they're on the run:

We'll stem rising tide of migration: PM finally promises action... starting with a curb on doctors

Labour has either ignored anyone who's been saying this for the past twelve years or branded them racist to silence any legitimate concerns about uncontrolled immigration.

I feel it's too late now.

[Brendalee]

Cynic that I am, I do not agree that it is too late. At least, it doesn't HAVE to be. What we are starving for is pragmatic honest government.

If Scotland wants to leave the United Kingdom and have its independence, I'd say let them go (but without the North Sea oil which ALL the citizens of the UK have paid for and which should, in my view, be re-nationalised).

We need to secularise our government strictly: Out with laws against "religious hate speech", out with "blasphemy" laws, etc. These things have never afforded any actual protection for any religion but Islam.

The Labour government (naturally) wants to give an "amnesty" to all the illegal migrants already here. This needs to be opposed.

Building or maintaining religious buildings with foreign funds should be made illegal. If there are adequate numbers of worshippers using or requiring a building, let them raise the money themselves. If there are not adequate numbers, then obviously they have no great need of the building. Nor should we recognise the concept of the waqf, and this should be made plain.

Taxpayers should NEVER be expected to pay money for the special treatment of some religious group or other. Nor to promote any religion in any way or protect any religion in any way. Taxpayers should pay only for strictly secular government and strictly secular schools, etc. Let religion look after itself.

Immigration authorities must be given the funding to search out and promptly deport illegals. Traffic wardens had a quota.
Immigration authorities should have one also and be paid accordingly, particularly for illegals who are on benefits. (Because the savings to the tax payer would far more than cover the cost of the ticket.)

Illegals who have been here more than 10 years should be given a deadline to apply for residency. After that deadline, chuck them out, even if they have been here 20 years.

Anyway these are just a few things that would ease the situation greatly. There are some sensible solutions to some of the problems, but the issue is getting a government with the political will to act. The point really is that at the moment,we do not even enforce the laws that we DO have....

So, yes it would take nearly a miracle. But I do not believe it is too late.

[Brendalee]

Oh, and there is already a 10 year rule, but it is not compulsary. You "can" apply for residency after being here for 10 years, even if you have been here illegally. It is generally granted if you can show that you are settled and self-sufficient. So there really is no reason for an "amnesty" except to fiddle the voter demographics in Labour's favour.

(They are working hard to get the vote for 16 year olds - because younger people are naive...and therefore tend to be Labour voters...There is no scheme too low for Labour to attempt.)

[Ariel]

Gordon Brown's bold new immigration policy – an aspirin to cure a pandemic

If people ask me, do I get it? Yes, I get it.” Thus Gordon Brown, unveiling his robust new immigration policy. Suddenly, Gordon is on the case, reclaiming Britain. (Diary entry: “Saw off BNP threat am…”) Most of you will still be reeling from the sheer scope and comprehensiveness of Gordon’s Draconian reforms. He is proposing to conduct a review of student visas and bogus colleges, to reduce the number of occupations fully open to foreign workers and… and… er… that’s it.

Even these paltry measures have been announced before. If you had been entertaining the slightest doubt that Gordon has lost all touch with reality, here was definitive proof. But, mark you, Gordon gets it. Since 1997 Labour has brought 3 million extra immigrants into Britain, who will add 7 million to the population over the next 20 years.

Under Labour net immigration has quadrupled to 237,000 a year. If the population is to be kept below 70 million, immigration must be reduced by at least 75 per cent. Government plans, reluctantly announced and largely cosmetic in nature, would, if rigorously implemented, reduce immigration by less than 5 per cent.

Yet, alarming though these statistics are, one feels almost irresponsible in citing them because they are so optimistically misleading, for two reasons. The first is that they take no account of illegal immigration. Back in early 2005 the median estimate by MigrationWatch for illegal residents was 670,000. By now that figure must have mushroomed. All calculations of numbers of illegals are necessarily crudely approximate and, because of the clandestine nature of what is being investigated, almost certainly underestimates. The illegal presence, therefore, must inflate the official figures in 2009 by around one million.

The other defect in statistics is the now routine calculation of “net immigration”, which even MigrationWatch employs. This rounds down the gross figures for entrants by subtracting the number of emigrants. The result is to make the scale of immigration seem smaller than it is, while disguising the numbers of our own people who are leaving. Some of these now openly cite the huge cultural changes imposed by the drastic alteration of British demography as a contributory factor in their departure.

It is impossible to conceive of any more fundamental issue in British society than a radical demographic change, artificially engineered over several decades. Yet, by intimidatory laws against free speech, politicians of all three major parties have been complicit in suppressing any debate on this topic, under the inane mantra of “racism”, until lately, when the dam has burst. The revelations by Andrew Neather, former Labour adviser, that the secret agenda was to enforce multiculturalism on Britain raises issues that some might think verge on the treasonable.

The only realistic response to this crisis is a total and indefinite moratorium on immigration, coupled with an effective campaign to remove all illegals. If that means helping ourselves, French-style, to derogations from EU immigration laws – so be it. Any party that enters the next general election with an immigration policy that falls significantly short of such measures will find it has no sale in what will then be a buyers’ market. As for Gordon Brown’s pathetic attempt to cure a pandemic with an aspirin – he’s having a laugh, surely?

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/geral ... -pandemic/

[FistofGod]

The problem is not immigrant, but rather uncontrolled immigration and bringing in the wrong type of migrants, regardless their reasons.

Bringing of skilled migrants like doctors, engineers, architects, academicians, white collared folks rarely cause major social unrest. Such migrants are educated, practice some form of family planning, and tend to be law-abiding.

Problem comes when Britain takes in hordes of unskilled migrants, who end up drifting into lower-skilled jobs like cab drivers, janitors and odd-job labourers.

Problem comes when Britain takes in migrants who believes in violence towards women, discrimination against folks outside their religion, and sympathisers towards militant religions.

It is certainly a big mistake to import Muslims in large numbers. Whether they come from Morocco or Pakistan, they all have shared values of honor-killing, support of Islamic terrorism, hatred for the key values, cultural, historical and religious heritage of Europe.

It appears that Gordon Brown has yet to really face the real mistakes of Britain's immigration policies.

[Cassie]

It's no coincidence that it is the Muslim immigrant doctors who go "Muslim" and blow themselves up or shoot innocent bystanders. This is a good start to tighten Muslim immigration. They have proven themselves to be anti-West hypocrite ingrates and unworthy of immigration places. There are plenty of other worthier immigrants. We don't have to stoop to the bottom of the barrel - millions of hungry grateful useful immigrants are dying to get to the West. Muslims Out!!! Now !