Lib Dem fury at David Cameron migrant speech

12 April 2012

David Cameron sparked a full-scale Coalition row today as he claimed that mass immigration had severely damaged Britain.

Business Secretary Vince Cable accused the Prime Minister of making "unwise" comments that could inflame extremism. The senior Lib-Dem led a backlash against Mr Cameron's speech calling for curbs on immigration. He told the Standard: "These comments from the Prime Minister are very unwise."

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg also attacked Mr Cameron's tone. His spokesman said: "This is not the language he would have used in a speech about immigration. This is a Conservative Prime
Minister talking to a Conservative audience about an issue that matters to Conservatives on the first day of an election campaign."

In an exclusive interview, Mr Cable added: "I do understand that there are elections coming but talk about mass immigration risks inflaming the extremism to which Mr Cameron and I are both strongly opposed."

He accused the Prime Minister of putting Tory policy ahead of the Coalition agreement with his plan to cut net immigration to tens of thousands from hundreds of thousands.

Mr Cameron responded to the Lib-Dem criticisms this afternoon, saying: "I will be judged by the British public." In his speech in Hampshire today, the Prime Minister said mass immigration had led to "discomfort and disjointedness" in some communities across Britain.

He blamed the "woeful welfare system" for paying British citizens not to work and leaving gaps to be filled by foreign workers. He also accused Labour of failing to deal with the issue while branding people with genuine concerns as racist. His comments - calling for "good immigration, not mass immigration" - sparked anger among some Liberal Democrats.

Mr Cable said: "Much of the remaining immigration from outside the EU is crucial to Britain's economic recovery and growth.

"That's why the Cabinet collectively agreed to support British business and British universities by exempting overseas students and essential staff from the cap on non-EU migration."

But leading Tories backed the Prime Minister, with Boris Johnson, who has clashed with Mr Cameron in the past over immigration, saying he had his full support.

The Mayor's spokesman said: "We welcome the vital assertion that Britain has to be open and welcoming to creative, talented and enterprising people from all over the world because the success of London throughout the ages has relied on attracting such people."

In his speech, Mr Cameron said the clampdown on immigration would not hit the City, and the Government had thought "incredibly carefully" about how to continue attracting high fliers to Britain.

He also praised the contribution of immigrants, including in the Square Mile and the NHS.

But he highlighted concerns over newcomers not integrating into society. He emphasised that 2.2 million more people came to live in the UK than left between 1997 and 2009 - saying it was "the largest influx of people Britain has ever had". He added that although three-quarters of the 2.5 million jobs created in the British economy since 1997 had been taken by foreign workers, it was "not a case of immigrants coming over here and taking our jobs".

"The real issue is this: migrants are filling gaps in the labour market left wide open by a welfare system that for years has paid British people not to work," he said.

Mr Cameron said the Government's immigration policy would include:

* Employers only being allowed to recruit 20,700 workers from outside Europe in the next 12 months.
Tighter controls on student visas.

* Making it more difficult for people on temporary visas to remain permanently in the UK.

* Tough "transitional" limits on the number of migrants from countries joining the EU.

* A minimum age of 21 for spouses coming to the UK.

* A crackdown on sham marriages.

* Colleges only being able to offer degree-level courses to students with a "proper grasp" of English.

* Only post-graduates being allowed to bring their dependants to the UK.

Following the comments by Mr Cable, the Prime Minister described his critics as "offbeam" and argued that his speech represented Lib-Dem, as well as Conservative, policy.

"I'm very willing to be judged by the British public not only on the content of the speech and the action that we are taking but also, I think, the very measured way in which it's being described," he said.

Mr Cameron also called for "political will" right across government - including from the Lib-Dems - to cut the number of newcomers to Britain.

He admitted there had been "arguments" in coalition but he and Mr Clegg's aides denied there was a policy rift on immigration - with Lib-Dems saying the tens of thousands figure was an "aim" not policy.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: "Immigration needs strong, fair controls and open, sensible debate. Unfortunately, David Cameron isn't delivering that."

Q& A

How much migration is London getting?
Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show that 153,000 migrants arrived in London during 2009, although after those leaving were taken into account, the net influx of 30,000 was the lowest since 1994. Nationally, the capital received 27 per cent of 2009 arrivals.

But what's been the long-term effect of migration on London's population?
More than 2.6 million of London's
7.7 million population were born abroad. In inner London, foreign born migrants account for 38 per cent of residents; the figure for the outer boroughs is 31 per cent. On top of this, a Greater London Authority report in 2009 estimated that about 442,000 illegal migrants live in the capital. About half of all births in London are now to foreign- born mothers.

What are the economic benefits?
These are notoriously hard to measure. The previous government claimed an annual economic gain of £6 billion nationally. On the other hand, employment rates among migrant groups such as Bangladeshis and Somalis are low. A House of Lords report in 2008 concluded that immigration had a "very small impact" on GDP per head of population and that its main impact was simply to increase the numbers living in the UK.

What about the cost to public services?
An extra 70,000 school places are needed in London over the next four years because of a rise in the number of children, much of which was caused by migration. Housing, transport and the NHS also face pressures because of the numbers of overseas arrivals. However, migrants play a key role in helping to run many services.

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