Former CBI chief hits back over immigration claim

News Article - 29 August 2006
Category:

The former director general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has responded to calls for a tighter immigration policy as "unworkable and unnecessary".

Responding to the suggestion by think-tank Migrationwatch UK that only migrants who have the potential to earn salaries in excess of £27,000 should be allowed to enter Britain, Sir Digby Jones said that unskilled labourers were also essential.

Speaking on BBC Radio Five Live, Sir Digby explained that unskilled workers were needed to fill the jobs that UK residents did not want to do.

"If you don't have people coming into the country prepared to work, even at the lower levels, you're not going to get your fruit picked in your fields, you're not going to get your houses and your schools and your hospitals built, you're not going to get served at tables in the tourism industry, it's just not going to happen," he said.

Migrationwatch based its calculations on the amount of tax that immigrants would pay, as well as their GDP contributions. It claims that 80 per cent of economic migrants working in the UK are taking more from the state than they are contributing financially.

Its chairman Sir Andrew Green insisted that a "much tighter" immigration system was needed, but Sir Digby added that most migrants are between the ages of 25 and 35 years old and are not a big drain on public sector resources.

Earlier this month the government revealed that almost 600,000 migrants had arrived from new EU member states since 2004, with the Home Office insisting that "little demand" was being placed on the welfare system as a result.

Article keywords:

---

More industry news

• Think tank warns UK may have already slipped back into recession
• Growing demand for HR staff in technology and international sectors
• Boosting business growth a ‘priority’ to avoid Eurozone slowdown
• HMRC launches alternative disputes pilot scheme this week
• December employment statistics disregard gloomy recruitment predictions
• Eurozone manufacturing PMI shows modest improvement
• UK scores highly for economic governance by ratings agency
• Government launches two-year project focusing on manufacturing sector
• Burden of regulation on UK businesses ‘too high’

Back to news home page »