U.K. plans immigration reforms
Cameron says Brits ‘fed up’ as anti-immigrant anger grows over current system
Astrong country isn’t one that “pulls up the drawbridge,” but it must control immigration, British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday after announcing sweeping reforms intended to keep illegal migrants out of the United Kingdom.
“Uncontrolled immigration can damage our labour market and push down wages. It means too many people entering the U.K. legally, but staying illegally,” Cameron said in his first address concerning immigration since his surprising, sweeping victory in the May 7 general election.
“The British people want these things sorted.”
The word “sorted” can mean many different things, with Cameron attempting to plug the holes in the wall around Britain.
It is believed there are nearly 300,000 people living illegally in Britain — those who have overstayed their visas and never left, according to the Guardian. How many of those people are working in black market jobs and not contributing to the tax base is anyone’s guess.
Britons are “fed up” with a system that allows “those who are not meant to be in our country to remain here,” Cameron said.
Anger against migrants in the United Kingdom has reached fever pitch. Some have even blamed part of Britain’s ongoing economic problems on allowing those from the European Union’s poorer countries entry into the U.K.
In the election race, the U.K. Independence Party campaigned against the influx of immigrants, vowing to “take back control of our borders.”
UKIP Leader Nigel Farage got into hot water after he said he’d be concerned if a group of Romanians became his neighbours. When outrage ensued, Farage quickly apologized.
While UKIP gained only one parliamentary seat in the vote, going to Douglas Carswell, the party attracted popular support — coming an astounding second in 120 constituencies and gaining nearly four million votes, says the Financial Times.
While the finer details of Cameron’s plan will be released next week in the Queen’s Speech (which sets out the Conservative program for the year ahead), his self-described “whole government approach” will aim to clamp down against migrants in Britain illegally. He’ll even lead the charge by chairing a new task force on immigration.
Police will be given the authority to seize the wages of those working at off-the-books jobs, making it a crime to be working illegally.
Municipal governments or councils will be given new powers to crack down on landlords housing migrants and then evict the occupants.
Banks will now be required to check all bank accounts against databases of people illegally living in Britain. Foreign criminals awaiting deportation will wear satellite tracking tags, so authorities know where they are at all times.
Already, Cameron noted, they’ve weeded out fake brides and grooms that stage sham marriages and taken away the licences of 9,000 “illegal immigrants driving on our roads.”
As for the jobs migrants have been filling, Cameron is offering incentives for Brits to alter their career paths and think about apprenticeships instead.
“For too long we’ve had a shortage of workers in certain roles. Engineers, nurses, teachers, chefs — we haven’t had enough Brits trained in these areas and companies have had to fill the gaps with people from overseas,” he said.
To that effect, Sajid Javid has been appointed the new business secretary and he’ll be in charge of training the British workforce.
“This involves creating three million more apprenticeships — and we will consult on getting the businesses that use foreign labour to help fund them through a new visa levy,” he said.
But Britain has not lost its compassion, Cameron insisted, pointing out it is one of the most successful multiracial democracies in the world.