UK needs ‘intelligent immigration policy’

The UK should have an intelligent immigration policy allowing only skilled workers to cross its borders, Robert Oulds from the Bruges Group think tank told RT. The expert says that London should have its own rules and not be dictated to by Brussels.

RT: The report found that most of those who come to Britain from Europe, are looking for jobs, not handouts. Why all the fuss, then? Isn't that what the British economy needs - people willing to work hard for a little less?

Robert Oulds: People should get a reasonable wage but the situation where people are coming in predominantly from Eastern Europe such as Poland; we’re going to have fallout from Bulgaria and Romania from January 1, when they can seek employment here.

These are undermining the native British people. They are working for less, so the wages are being depressed and British people are finding that they are left on the scrap heap so to speak. They can’t find work. They are not willing to look perhaps as hard as some people from Eastern Europe, so then they are trapped in welfare dependency.

Of course not everybody that is coming here is coming here for work. Some are coming here to use the NHS which is free at the point of delivery and some are claiming benefits. Ian Duncan Smith, the secretary of state for pensions and social security, believes it can be as much as 2 billion pounds that is being spent on welfare support on migrants.

There is also pressure on schools and housing. In London, the cost of rent has just gone up enormously because there is so much demand and a lot of that is from people who are moving into London from all over Europe and they are adding a lot of pressure. So, even though visitors are coming here to work, it is creating a system which is undermining British people in the workplace.

RT:Britain and the EU are at odds over discrimination against migrants - specifically London banning migrants from certain handouts. Why shouldn't they qualify for all benefits?

RO: British tax payer’s money should primarily be spent on British citizens and we have problem in the UK. We have a problem with the social services being overloaded. We have a problem of excessive demand for the housing. We have a problem with British people on unemployment benefits that can’t find work. We have a problem of people coming here to claim benefits that does exist to a degree.

The rules should change. Yes the EU law does state that there should be no discrimination regardless of what country a citizen or someone comes from, but of course they should not be the case. British borders should be managed according to the needs of this country, rather than being dictated to by Brussels.

RT:For now, the UK is part of the EU. Isn't it only fair that the UK respects the same rules that the other 27 states follow?

RO: Perhaps we should leave the EU. We would be better off, the situation is not so much about closing doors. It’s about inviting those that would benefit the British economy the most. We can have a system of work permits. We can still be open to people from other countries if they have a particular skill that this country needs and perhaps something where they can invest in the UK and they can be a real benefit.

But to have no safeguards to perhaps 29 million people from Romania and Bulgaria as well as other people from Poland and the other Eastern European states that joined the EU in 2004 is of course an unintelligent policy. We need an intelligent immigration policy that suits British needs and where we can supply services for those who are actually contributing in the UK, rather than this open door approach that we have at the moment.