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Immigration: your questions answered - Guardian

Immigration: your questions answered Guardian, UK - Apr 1, 2008 The flow of new workers from Romania and Bulgaria has been small-scale. The real question for whether migration to Britain will continue this level is ...

Immigration: your questions answered - Guardian
A further 60,000 a year come to Britain on family reunion grounds, mostly from India and Pakistan, which cannot be curbed without sparking a major race row. But this is simply projecting what has happened in the past. In practical terms that means a cap will only apply to skilled or semi-skilled workers allowed to come on work permits from outside Europe, fewer than 20% of new migrants. In practice the government's policy and the Tories' alternative immigration cap are not that far apart. It was last updated at 15:27 on April 01 2008. It was last updated at 15:27 on April 01 2008. Maybe we should be worrying about how we can compete for the next wave of skilled migrants who are more likely to go to Germany than come to Britain.What about the cap or limit on numbers proposed by the peers and backed by the Conservative party. No government, including an incoming Conservative one, will want to reduce the numbers of highly skilled workers or students coming to Britain as both are clearly net earners for the country. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PAImmigration contributed around £6bn to the growth in the economy in 2006, according to government figures. Talks are already going on with Turkey and Georgia.In the meantime, employers worry that immigration has peaked and say labour shortages are continuing, particulary in civil engineering projects such as the Olympics site, agriculture and care homes. That leaves a limit on non-EU migration only.Low-skilled migration from outside Europe is already banned. The flow of new workers from Romania and Bulgaria has been small-scale. The government says it is going to limit the number of tier two workers through the new points-based system later this year, and this is more flexible than a specific limit. The real question for whether immigration to Britain will continue this level is whether there will be any new countries joining the EU giving them the unrestricted right to work in the UK. These are known as "tier two" workers in the government's new points system.The committee says the time is right for the government to set an "explicit and indicative" target range or limit for this group. This works out at £300 a head, or £30 a year. Will that work?The peers acknowledge that immigration from within the EU cannot be controlled and that Britain must continue to honour its right to asylum seekers.