Farage backs five-year state school ban on immigrants

Guardian News and Media/LondonThe children of new immigrants coming to Britain should not immediately be allowed to attend state schools, Nigel Farage has suggested.The Ukip leader made the comments when asked about a policy on the party’s website saying immigrants and their dependents would need private education for five years after entering the UK.Farage said it was a “difficult” issue and that it was not a manifesto pledge. But he said his personal view was that immigrants would only bring their dependents after a period of time and after that he would not envisage their children being allowed to go straight into state schools.The Where We Stand What We Stand For section of Ukip’s website says: “Immigrants must financially support themselves and their dependents for five years. This means private health insurance (except emergency medical care), education and housing - they should pay into the pot before they take out of it.”Asked how that would work and whether it could in fact lead to more segregation in schools, Farage said: “Basically people would bring dependents, not immediately. They would bring them after a period of time. I think the most important thing is that those that come do have healthcare. That’s really, really important, and on the life threatening disease stuff, that’s perfectly clear ... “The dependents thing is much more difficult. But I wouldn’t foresee people coming into Britain immediately being allowed to bring children to go through the state system. Except for very high top earners, it wouldn’t be very relevant.”Ukip supports a five-year ban on unskilled migrants coming to Britain and only allowing highly-skilled people to enter if they have enough” points” under an Australian-style border control system.Pressed on whether he was saying even high-skilled people would not be bringing their families with them, Farage said: “Not to begin with. Sometimes they do. If I got a work permit in America for two years and I went with my family, I would have to pay for education and health.”Asked whether Ukip would want to replicate that system, whereby immigrants would have to pay for both private education and health, Farage said: “To be honest most countries in the world do. This is not unusual. Most countries in the world do it like this.” Concerns about the impact of immigration on the schools system have previously been highlighted by senior Conservatives and Sir Michael Wilshaw, the Ofsted child inspector. Farage explained his views on five-year restrictions on migrants in an interview with the Guardian and Mirror Online on a wide range of issues from immigration to the party’s election strategy to the possibility of a Tory-Ukip deal after May 7. He said the party’s stance on immigration was proving to be the strongest argument for Ukip on the doorstep “without any shadow of a doubt”, even more so than its campaign for an EU referendum.