(UK PM) Brown to get tough on student visas and foreign skilled workers

[Newsjock]

Source: The Independent

Gordon Brown has announced tough new rules on student visas and cut the number of skilled foreign workers allowed into Britain as he acknowledged public concerns over immigration levels.

He argued that attracting talented migrants remained crucial to Britain's prosperity but said it was foolish to ignore the risks and costs of immigration. In his first major speech on the issue for two years, the Prime Minister said it was "lazy elitism" to portray people with worries about immigration as racist.

... The Prime Minister said the range of jobs available to skilled foreign workers would be reduced by tens of thousands. From next year all vacancies for hospital consultants, civil engineers, aircraft engineers and ship's officers will have to be filled from within Britain and the EU, with other engineering posts, skilled chefs and care workers expected to join the list shortly afterwards. But employers and colleges warned of the potential economic impact of limiting skilled workers. The Institution of Civil Engineers said restrictions on engineers could affect major infrastructure projects such as new nuclear power stations.

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brown-to-get-tough-on-student-visas-and-foreign-skilled-workers-1819922.html

[OhioChick]

1. Smart man. Taking care of his own citizens first, as it should be. n/t

[ChromeFoundry]

3. +1 n/t

[Spider Jerusalem]

5. Not so much actually

the scope for that is rather limited under present EU treaties that guarantee free movement of labour within the European Union. By far the greatest number of immigrants to Britain come from the new EU member states of Eastern Europe (principally from Poland). And under EU treaty agreements there's nothing the UK government can do to limit such immigration from EU member states short of withdrawing from the EU.

[mrbarber]

2. Hm.

Not quite sure how to feel about this.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

4. Consider that an excessively open immigration policy

not only adds competition to the job market but also deprives developing countries of their most talented and ambitious people, the so-called "brain drain."

[The2ndWheel]

8. Which then become little more than baby factories for developed nations

since developed nations are aging, and need more people to continue to grow. So developing nations have to continue to be developing nations, because where is there to go after becoming a developed nation? If aging populations is any indication, it would be death. Society needs the babies coming from somewhere.

[JCMach1]

6. European racism and xenophobia roll on...

[nyy1998]

7. Not a big fan of this policy

Especially the student visa crack down.

[liberal_at_heart]

9. I was afraid this might happen

My husband and I want to move to the UK for their healthcare system. This is going to make it harder.

[pampango]

10. In a related UK immigration story, the BNP will "discuss" allowing non-whites to join the party.

The British National Party (BNP) (which wants the UK to return to its indigenous white roots) has been using anti-immigrant sentiment to increase its own popularity and membership. The Labour Party is afraid that the BNP will cause Labour to lose seats in next year's election. BNP might not win but will take enough votes to enable the Conservatives to win particular seats.

Seems that Brown wants to go BNP-lite (like the Conservative Party in the UK has done), blame immigrants but ditch the racism. We'll see if their version of repub-lite works better for them.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8360185.stm

"The British National Party is to discuss changing its constitution to allow non-white members to join."

The Human Rights Commission has ruled that if the BNP does not allow people from ethnic minorities to join, it would become an illegal party. Conference is expected to reluctantly accept the plan, which must then be endorsed by a vote of the full party."

"The BNP has refused to reveal the exact location of the conference for fear proceedings may be disrupted by protesters. The BBC's North West political editor Arif Ansari said anti-fascist campaigners had been circulating the conference location, trying to drum up a demonstration."

"The BNP's membership has increased this year and two candidates were elected to the European Parliament. The party, which is thought to be facing financial problems, has also joined forces with far-right groups in a new European Alliance of National Movements."

It has to be tough for the BNP. To be a legal party in the UK they have to allow non-whites to join, but their goal is to return the UK to a "whites only" country as it was centuries ago. Good luck figuring a way out of that conundrum.