David Cameron hints at relaxing immigration cap
Discussion
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The Prime Minister gave the reassurance following protests from major international firms and leading British universities that capping net immigration will stop them hiring the staff they need to compete internationally.
Mr Cameron’s remarks came amid new warnings that a forthcoming European trade treaty with India will circumvent any British immigration cap by allowing multinational firms to transfer unlimited numbers of Indian employers to the UK.
The policy has drawn protests from business leaders and Vince Cable, the business secretary, has said it could be “hugely damaging” to British-based firms who want to transfer staff from overseas to work here.
Addressing the annual conference of the CBI, Britain’s biggest business lobby, the Prime Minister appeared to signal concessions ahead.
Mr Cameron told the conference: “As we control our borders and bring immigration to a manageable level, we will not impede you from attracting the best talent from around the world.”
The Prime Minister left the conference to meet Geoffrey Immelt, the chief executive of General Electric, which has complained about the immigration cap.
Downing Street insisted that Mr Cameron’s remarks did not constitute a retreat from the Coalition’s policy.
But a spokesman for the Prime Minister said the final immigration rules would address business groups’ concerns.
He said: “We will be looking at the level of that cap and at the way in which it operates and making sure that works in a way that allows business to bring the people that they need into the UK."
Richard Lambert, the CBI's director general, said it was “encouraging” that Mr Cameron “made clear that access to immigration would not be a barrier to future growth.”
Mr Cameron’s speech coincided with a fresh warning about the impact of a trade deal being negotiated between the European Union and India.
The pact could allow multinational companies operating in India and the EU an unlimited right to transfer employees between the two.
The trade deal’s potential implications for UK immigration rules were first highlighted by the Daily Telegraph earlier this month.
Migrationwatch UK, a pressure group, yesterday said that the trade deal could “blast a hole in Britain's immigration controls”.
Sir Andrew Green of Migrationwatch said: ‘It looks as though the Indians are about to drive a bullock and cart through Britain's immigration system despite government talk about creating jobs in the private sector. There is no point in a limit on economic migration if specialists from India are excluded from the cap by a separate agreement.”
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said the treaty, expected to be agreed by the end of the year will have “considerable benefits to UK businesses”.
A spokesman said: “We will ensure that any commitments placed on the UK by this agreement will be consistent with the Government’s commitment to reduce net migration.”
Can I qoute my favorite errrrrr..... qoute on PH , ok then
The Prime Minister gave the reassurance following protests from major international firms and leading British universities that capping net immigration will stop them hiring the staff they need to compete internationally.
Mr Cameron’s remarks came amid new warnings that a forthcoming European trade treaty with India will circumvent any British immigration cap by allowing multinational firms to transfer unlimited numbers of Indian employers to the UK.
The policy has drawn protests from business leaders and Vince Cable, the business secretary, has said it could be “hugely damaging” to British-based firms who want to transfer staff from overseas to work here.
Addressing the annual conference of the CBI, Britain’s biggest business lobby, the Prime Minister appeared to signal concessions ahead.
Mr Cameron told the conference: “As we control our borders and bring immigration to a manageable level, we will not impede you from attracting the best talent from around the world.”
The Prime Minister left the conference to meet Geoffrey Immelt, the chief executive of General Electric, which has complained about the immigration cap.
Downing Street insisted that Mr Cameron’s remarks did not constitute a retreat from the Coalition’s policy.
But a spokesman for the Prime Minister said the final immigration rules would address business groups’ concerns.
He said: “We will be looking at the level of that cap and at the way in which it operates and making sure that works in a way that allows business to bring the people that they need into the UK."
Richard Lambert, the CBI's director general, said it was “encouraging” that Mr Cameron “made clear that access to immigration would not be a barrier to future growth.”
Mr Cameron’s speech coincided with a fresh warning about the impact of a trade deal being negotiated between the European Union and India.
The pact could allow multinational companies operating in India and the EU an unlimited right to transfer employees between the two.
The trade deal’s potential implications for UK immigration rules were first highlighted by the Daily Telegraph earlier this month.
Migrationwatch UK, a pressure group, yesterday said that the trade deal could “blast a hole in Britain's immigration controls”.
Sir Andrew Green of Migrationwatch said: ‘It looks as though the Indians are about to drive a bullock and cart through Britain's immigration system despite government talk about creating jobs in the private sector. There is no point in a limit on economic migration if specialists from India are excluded from the cap by a separate agreement.”
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said the treaty, expected to be agreed by the end of the year will have “considerable benefits to UK businesses”.
A spokesman said: “We will ensure that any commitments placed on the UK by this agreement will be consistent with the Government’s commitment to reduce net migration.”
Can I qoute my favorite errrrrr..... qoute on PH , ok then
essexplumber said:
I think that may be because the Libs are involved though.
Bing o said:
Fittster said:
Which industries in the UK are actually short of skilled labour as opposed to wanting to employee cheap staff from outside the EU?
The NHS?The pressure to remove the cap seems to becoming from private businesses. Now I'm quite happy for everybody else's job to be done by cheap immigrants, just not my own.
There are certain aspects of the immigration cap which place major obstacles in the way of UK companies securing international contracts. The way in which we typically execute major oil & gas contracts is for main design to be done in the UK. This can take up to 2 years per facility. Clients from, for example, the Middle East come to the UK and are resident here during this period. The clients "like" placing work in the UK, because there is not the anti-Arab hysteria they experience in the US & they like London. The current immigration cap makes it exceptionally difficult for these clients to operate in the manner they had before & in turn means they are more reluctant to come to the UK, which in turn places highly paid, skilled jobs at risk. The industry is also very short of skilled people & relies on importing labour from Europe, US & India to survive.
frosted said:
essexplumber said:
I think Cameron may have been lent on by a Lib.
Touché To be fair , at least in London the student visa workers are a breath of fresh air . I mean , who else would work their arse off for 12 hrs a day for minimum wage ?
Fittster said:
frosted said:
essexplumber said:
I think Cameron may have been lent on by a Lib.
Touché To be fair , at least in London the student visa workers are a breath of fresh air . I mean , who else would work their arse off for 12 hrs a day for minimum wage ?
frosted said:
Fittster said:
frosted said:
essexplumber said:
I think Cameron may have been lent on by a Lib.
Touché To be fair , at least in London the student visa workers are a breath of fresh air . I mean , who else would work their arse off for 12 hrs a day for minimum wage ?
I think there needs to be a clear distinction between skills that cannot be obtained easily in the UK and someone who is cheaper/doesn't need retraining from abroad.
It might cost a little more to employ a UK citizen in the second instance, but at a time of high unemployment and the very real capacity constraints, the social benefit massively outweighs the slight economic benefit.
It might cost a little more to employ a UK citizen in the second instance, but at a time of high unemployment and the very real capacity constraints, the social benefit massively outweighs the slight economic benefit.
Fittster said:
Morningside said:
This migration cap is b
ks anyway. I dont think they CAN stop EU immigration due to EU laws?
The immigration cap is for non-EU people, the example that is close to my heart and wallet is the number of Indian working in the UK for British companies. ks anyway. I dont think they CAN stop EU immigration due to EU laws?
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