Reuters/London
Britain’s governing Conservatives plan to renew a failed pledge to reduce net migration below 100,000 a year if they are re-elected in May, a senior minister said, despite current levels running at around triple that.
Immigration is one of voters’ top concerns ahead of what is expected to be a close-fought election and the Conservatives are under pressure from the rise in popularity of the UK Independence Party (Ukip), who want strong curbs to immigration.
The Conservatives, neck-and-neck with the opposition Labour party in many polls, have been embarrassed by a failure to meet Prime Minister David Cameron’s 2010 pledge to reduce the net number of people coming to Britain “to the tens of thousands”.
Official data last week showed a net 298,000 people moved to Britain in the year to September 2014, a 40% rise from the previous 12 months and more than when the Conservative-led coalition government took power in 2010.
“I think we will keep the target,” Home Secretary Theresa May, seen as a potential future party leader, said in an interview with the Times published yesterday.
“It’s important that this is not just an issue that is talked about, but we make an impact. People need to know that a future Conservative government would continue to bear down on the system so that we control the numbers.”
She added: “Uncontrolled immigration makes it more difficult to maintain social cohesion.
“It has an impact on public services, it can also drive down wages at the lower end of the income scale.”
Among measures May would like to consider are bonds, where migrants would be asked to put up money to enter Britain that would be repaid when they left if they had not accessed public services or welfare, the newspaper reported.
But Ukip viewed May’s reaffirming of the pledge as a gift.
“Thanks so much Theresa May for keeping the migration promise so you can break it again if re-elected. We are all most grateful,” Patrick O’Flynn, Ukip’s economic spokesman and a member of the European Parliament, said on Twitter.
u201cIt’s important that this is not just an issue that is talked about, but we make an impactu201d
