Henry Smith MP has praised the Government for restricting immigration numbers to those who will contribute to society.

Henry said:

“Under Labour, nearly 2.2 million immigrants entered the United Kingdom. In 2005 we were the only country to open our borders completely to the eight new EU member states. Labour ministers predicted that only 13,000 people would arrive, but were proved massively wrong as approximately 750,000 came to our shores.

“Many immigrants do bring useful skills that we need, however, many more were arriving who became burdens on society rather than contributors. I’m particularly pleased that the immigration limit for unskilled workers is now zero. Previously, far too many were allowed to settle in the UK without any skills set which all too often rendered them dependent on taxpayer’s support. I fully support the Government’s decision to forcibly remove 55,000 people over the last three months who had no right to remain in Great Britain and the Government’s insistence that immigrants entering the UK, whether permanently or on student/work visas, should have a basic command of the English language.

“Now only skilled workers are permitted to enter the UK and only if they have a specific job offer already in place. This means that workers already living in the UK will now rightfully get priority for jobs. The number of skilled workers allowed in is also limited, though this limit has not been reached this year, or in 2010.”

Another area that the Government has tackled is that of immigrants abusing education and marriage as a way to stay in this country. 69 bogus colleges have had their licenses revoked with several more under investigation. All incoming students require a good level of English and are only allowed to stay on, after their studies, if they receive a firm job offer. These measures alone are predicted to cut net migration by 60,000 as those who abuse these visas, to work rather than study, will now be denied entry or deported.

Tackling the problem of sham marriages is a much tougher problem. New rules demanding a certain level of English have been introduced as well as requiring a couple to have lived together for at least five years, rather than only two years currently, before they can reside here. The sponsor will now also have to prove that they can support their new partner which will put an end to benefit migration.

Henry added:

“We simply cannot afford a repeat of the unchecked, mass immigration into the UK that we’ve seen over the past decade. Our focus now must be restoring the wellbeing of our national economy and ensuring that those out of work are helped back into work.”

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