IMMIGRATION
17th April 2005

Government figures suggest that there are 500,000 illegal immigrants in the UK, equivalent to the population of Sheffield (The Sunday Times, 17 April 2005).

Why Labour are all talk?

Mr Blair said: ‘Every country must have firm control over immigration and Britain is no exception’ (Labour Manifesto, 1997).

All talk.

Under Mr Blair, net immigration has tripled and there are currently over 250,000 failed asylum seekers living in Britain today with no right to be here.

• Mr Blair’s Government said that they had no idea who was coming into, or leaving, our country. Yet today’s report shows that they have been compiling figures since last year (Sunday Times, 17 April 2005).

• Immigration has tripled under Labour. Total net immigration to Britain averaged 157,000 people a year between 1997 and 2003; between 1993 and 1997 the average was 50,000. 157,000 people - equivalent to a town the size of Peterborough - arrive in the UK every year.

• Only one in five asylum seekers is removed from the United Kingdom. Under Labour, there are now over 250,000 failed asylum seekers living in Britain who have no right to be here.

• According to Labour’s own predictions, Britain’s population will increase by 6.1 million over the next thirty years.

Immigration will account for 84 per cent of the increase (roughly five million people). That is equivalent to five times the population of Birmingham.

Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats want to surrender Britain’s asylum and immigration policies to the European Union and want to remove the control that Britain has over its borders.

What will Conservatives do?

• A Conservative Government will set an annual maximum limit on the number who can settle in Britain, including a quota for asylum seekers. We will give priority to those coming with the skills Britain needs.

• We will set up a British Border Control Police so that there is one face at the border. The Force will secure Britain’s 35 main ports 24 hours a day. Its priorities will be to help deter illegal immigration and fight terrorism and international crime.

• We will reintroduce embarkation controls so that we know who leaves the country.

There is a clear choice at the next election:

limited and controlled immigration with the Conservatives,
or
unlimited immigration under Mr Blair and the Liberal Democrats