Vince Cable criticises PM’s Immigration Speech
EL News desk: Revealing tensions within the Coalition Government, Vince Cable, the UK’s Business Secretary has accused David Cameron of using “unwise” language in a keynote immigration speech.
Mr Cable insisted the Prime Minister’s proposals to see the number of migrants coming to the UK every year slashed to tens of thousands was “not part of the coalition agreement”. Mr Cable accused David Cameron of “inflaming extremism” with his speech on immigration.
He told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg: “The reference to the tens of thousands of immigrants rather than hundreds of thousands is not part of the coalition agreement, it is Tory party policy only. I do understand there is an election coming but talk of mass immigration risks inflaming the extremism to which he and I are both strongly opposed… “Much of the remaining immigration from outside the European Union is crucial to British recovery and growth. That’s why the cabinet collectively agreed to support British business and British universities by exempting overseas students and essential staff from the cap on Non-EU immigration.”
Cable has repeatedly criticised Cameron’s immigration cap, including on a trip to India last July, and again in September. The Lib Dems, however, have distanced themselves from Mr Cable’s comments. A Sky News source said Vince Cable is “his own man” and that the “Prime Minister is a conservative Prime Minister using conservative language”. Immigration policy has proved a sore point between the Lib Dems and Tories since the General Election, with Mr Cable warning a cap would prevent British universities and companies recruiting the brightest talent from abroad.
Mr Cameron insisted in a speech to Conservative supporters that he is keeping his promise to get a grip on immigration and admitted it had caused “discomfort and disjointedness” in some areas. The Prime Minister claimed welfare dependency and the last Labour government for allowing the number of people coming to the UK to be “too high”.
“But the most significant route to permanent settlement is the economic migration route,” he continued. “Last year, 84,000 people who initially came on a work visa got the right to settle here. I want Britain to continue to attract the best workers. But it cannot be right that people coming to fill short-term skills gaps can stay long-term.”
Cameron criticised the way that Tier One visas had worked under the previous government, with migrants coming in under this highly-skilled route ending up “stacking shelves or driving taxis.” He said that instead of “salami-slicing” the numbers coming to the UK, the government had thought carefully about the skills that were needed and is prioritising Tier Two migrants with a job offer in shortage occupations.
Under the immigration cap, there is now an annual limit of 20,700 non-EU skilled migrants entering the UK under Tier Two, while the Tier One route has been slashed to just 1,000 per year in order to be limited to the “brightest and the best”. Intra-company transfers of staff for up to five years have been exempted from the cap if they earn more than £40,000. The BNP’s Simon Darby has claimed David Cameron’s much-hyped, muchtrailed speech on immigration this morning is “advocating BNP policy”, adding:“…if we had copyright on our manifesto we’d have our lawyers round his office within hours.”