A balanced debate on immigration - at last

Sep 15 2008

IT has taken well over a decade to be able to question the sustainability of uncontrolled immigration without being labelled a racist.

In those ten years, 750,000 Britons have quit these shores while 2.5 million immigrants have arrived.

Next year England is on course to overtake Holland as Europe's most over-crowded country.

And according to the government's own statistics, the trend left unchecked would need seven new cities the size of Birmingham to accommodate everybody by 2030.

The mulish reluctance of politicians to address the problem has stoked up mounting resentment among residents of inner city areas who have seen society changing before their eyes.

There must be an election looming. For suddenly, on the back of a warning from a Commons select committee that "immigration has become the biggest single concern of the British people", politicians have woken up to the issue. And are talking about it openly. At last.

The taboo subject was first broached by a cross-party committee, supported by a former Archbishop of Canterbury and a Muslim peer, which called for balanced immigration.

It is a simple concept. Last year 600,000 immigrants were admitted to the UK while 400,000 people left. The committee wants a limit on arrivals to match the number of departures, thus limiting the pressure on schools, hospitals and other public services.

It only took days for this to be vetoed by a government which has turned a blind eye for 11 years.

Instead of importing criminals from other countries - 14 per cent of the prison population are immigrants - we are now going to be more selective.

Around 700,000 visas are to be issued to trained professionals who will benefit the country's economy.

The list of jobs deemed acceptable by the government is almost risible. Frozen fish filleters. Sheep shea rers. Hovercraft pilots. Ballet dancers. Doctors, nurses, care workers and chefs will no longer get automat ic right of entry.

This policy - operated for some years by Aust ralia which does cap the number of arrivals - took three years in its gestation.

But there's no word yet on the millions of illegal immigrants who the Government has neither the wit nor will to find and send back.

As an example of how not to run a country, it takes some beating.