Migration Watch UK: News

The Business Visitor Scheme under the Points Based System

Migrationwatch called yesterday for much tougher rules on business visitors. The new rules are far too lax and, in particular, permit unlimited secondment of foreign employees to Britain

Commenting, the Chairman, Sir Andrew Green, said "The Government scrabbled to produce these rules only days before the system goes live. Far from being "tough" the rules for business visitors drive a coach and horses through the entire work permit system. Now any foreign company with a contract with a British company can send as many seconded staff as they wish for periods of six months each. This could easily be used to replace more expensive British workers as the recession bites. The Government must think again and take urgent measures to put proper controls in place."

How many more people can our small island take? As population heads towards 70 million has the penny dropped for Labour?

By Sir Andrew Green, Chairman, Migration Watch UK.

The issues around immigration are steadily becoming clearer as successive government smoke screens are blown away by the cool wind of logic.

New immigration figures being published by the Government today will confirm that very high levels of immigration are continuing at about 200,000 a year.

In recent weeks, the penny has finally dropped in government circles that immigration is having a huge impact on our population. This is not a matter of speculation.

Getting too crowded? The UK population is on course to hit 70 million unless effective measures are taken

The Government's own projections show that the UK population will reach 70 million in 20 years'time.

To read the full text of this article see Press Articles on Migration Watch UK's web site.

Toughening the Points Based System

With unemployment climbing fast, it is no longer acceptable that jobs which have never been advertised in Britain should be offered to economic migrants. Nor should migrants be admitted without a job to go to. The total of these categories is at least 75,000 jobs a year and probably a good deal more. These arrangements should be suspended while the recession lasts.

It is not generally realised that a significant number of work permits are issued to foreign economic migrants without the job being advertised in Britain or in the EU and that a considerable number of economic migrants are admitted without a job to go to.

To see the full text of this document go to Migrationwatch's Briefing Paper 3.5.

Consultation on Immigration Appeals

Migrationwatch Briefing Paper No 8.28 summarised some of the main features of the government’s recently published Draft (Partial) Immigration and Citizenship Bill and appended a copy of the submissions made by Migrationwatch to the Home Affairs Committee of the House of Commons. The draft is described as partial because some important topics have been omitted, with the intention of adding them later so that a complete Bill can be laid before Parliament in the next session. The government has now issued a consultation paper on proposed changes to the immigration appeals system, one of the omitted topics. For a summary of how the present system, introduced in April 2005, works, you are referred to our Briefing Paper No 8.2 (Please note that the reference in paragraph 2 of that paper to the Immigration and Nationality Department of the Home Office should now be read as a reference to the UK Border Agency, the new name of the former Department.) The content of our submissions is inevitably technical in places, but the subject is important. Asylum and immigration appeals are appeals to the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal against decisions of the UK Border Agency which are adverse to the applicant. Appeals are heard by some hundreds of immigration judges at hearing centres in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow and other major cities. The most recent figures available show that between April 2007 and March 2008 the Tribunal disposed of over 165,000 appeals.

To see this full document go to Briefing Paper No 8.29 on Migrationwatch web site