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Minister urged to change policy on migrant workers - 31 Jan 2008

Keith Best asks Minister to reverse policy on Commonwealth countries’ citizens providing lower skilled labour
Questioning the Immigration Minister, Liam Byrne MP, on Thursday 30 January in the House of Commons at the launch of the Migration Parliamentary Group, Keith Best, Chief Executive of Immigration Advisory Service, asked him to reopen the traditional routes of migration for lower skilled workers from Commonwealth countries rather than just eastern European ones.

“It is the Government’s policy for the UK to recruit all lower skilled workers from the EU countries and you have blocked the routes of traditional migration from the Commonwealth countries” he said.

“Bearing in mind your wish to see migrants to the UK understanding English and our institutions, will you accept that Commonwealth country citizens, who often have their own institutions based on British ones and for whom English is often their official language, fit that profile more than eastern Europeans who do not have the same legacy of involvement with the UK and use of English. Indeed, the current public complaint is more about Poles, Rumanians and Bulgarians not being able to speak English. Is it not time for you to change your policy and open up again those routes for migrant workers from the Commonwealth countries?”

The Minister replied that he wished Keith Best was still an MP and that the Migration Advisory Committee would look into what skills are needed.

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