With a surprise general election set for 9 June, Prime Minister Theresa
May has confirmed the Conservative pledge of slashing net migration
to the "tens of thousands", or what she described as
"sustainable levels".
Mrs May, who is currently twenty points ahead of her nearest rival, Labour
leader Jeremy Corbyn, in the UK election polls, said
it was important to reach net migration targets to reduce pressure on public
services and the lower paid workers.
Theresa May
She said: "I think it is important that we continue,
and we will continue, to say that we do want to bring net migration down to
sustainable levels.
"We believe that is the tens of thousands, and of
course once we leave the European Union we will have the opportunity to ensure
that we have control of our borders here in the UK, because we'll be able to
establish our rules for people coming from the European Union into the
UK."
Referring to Brexit, May continued: "That's a part of
the picture that we haven't been able to control before and we will be able to
control it.
"Leaving the EU means that we won't have free movement
as it has been in the past."
Party sources had earlier revealed to the press that the
commitment would appear in the party's
General Election manifesto.
Amber Rudd
On Sunday, Home Secretary Amber Rudd confirmed she wanted to
"continue to bring immigration down", which under her watch have
started to fall.
Who will make our coffee and croissant?
Miss Rudd, who took control of the Home Office from Theresa May added:
"I did hear that Pret a Manger had come out and said, 'It's
absolutely essential for us to have European workers because if we don't we're
going to have to make more of an effort to recruit in the UK'.
"Well, good. I'd like them to make more of an effort to
recruit in the UK. So we will be trying to push them as well to do more in the
UK.
"Them and all business – so that we make sure we look after
people who are otherwise unemployed in the UK better".
Pret's director of human resources claimed it would struggle
to staff its outlets after Brexit because so few British people apply for jobs.
Andrea Wareham said the industry was not seen as sufficiently desirable to
attract a significant number of British jobseekers.
The coffee chain employs
people from 110 countries, but in London you are more likely to find European workers running the show. With millions of able bodied British people claiming benefits, it is hardly surprising that Amber Rudd refuses to pander to those worried about who will make their coffee or warm up their croissant in the stores that seem occupy almost every other shopfront in London. How did we all manage before Starbucks started our obsession with coffee?
None of the main parties has said that EU migrants living here would not be able to continue to live and work in the UK.
Recent immigration figures reveal that net migration fell to
273,000 in the year to September, which is the first time in two years that the
balance of people arriving and leaving the UK slid below 300,000.
The number of international students coming to study in
Britain dropped to their lowest level since 2002, which contributed to the
overall net migration figures.
Jeremy Corbyn said Labour would introduce a "fair"
and managed immigration system that "works for all", while pointing
out many immigrants have made a "massive contribution" to the NHS,
education, industry and public transport services.
The previous Blair Labour government opened the doors to
millions of migrants across all sectors from care workers and nurses to
international students. At the same time the EU expansion took place adding at
least 2 million migrants from former Soviet Bloc countries such as Poland and
Romania.
Since coming to power in 2010, the Conservatives have reversed the spiralling
immigration trend with tough new measures - such as scrapping the Post Study Work Visa, reforming the visa appeal system and introducing fines to landlords housing illegal immigrants - even if former Prime Minister David
Cameron’s original targets have not yet been reached.
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