Home Secretary says Tory UK immigration plans could damage business
February 11 2010 by Liam Clifford
Home Secretary Alan Johnson has criticised Conservative plans to limit the number of immigrants moving to the UK, claiming such cuts could damage businesses and put international investors off.
David
Cameron, the Tory leader, has pledged that if his party wins the next general
election, it will limit net migration to “tens of thousands rather than the
hundreds of thousands.” Cameron claims this is necessary in order to lift
pressures on public services.
Johnson pointed out that the Tories would
only be able to limit immigration by targeting skilled migrants from outside the
EU. He says reducing the number of skilled UK work visas available could
"severely damage the competitiveness of UK companies who depend on highly
skilled, overseas workers".
Johnson continued, “it is disingenuous to
assert that such a quota would solve the population problem, and irresponsible
to ignore the damage it would do to our economy.”
He also said that the
Office for National Statistics was “obsessed” with claims that the UK population
would reach 70 million in 20 years, a claim that Johnson disputes.
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