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    Parties defend immigration policies

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    Member News

    Unite urges Ken Clarke to act as legal charity goes into administration

    Law Society calls for urgent action as asylum organisation faces closure

    Government Announcement Increases Likelihood Of Continued Destitution Amongst Central And Eastern Europeans

    Points Based Immigration System Adversely Effecting Artists and Intercultural Exchange

    4th May 2010

    The three main political parties have an "open door" policy on immigration, according to Nigel Farage.

    The Former Ukip leader made the accusation as he took part in a BBC Daily Politics debate on the issue alongside his Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat opponents.

    During his opening remarks, Farage said: "They are all signed up to EU agenda which means we have a total open door to tens of millions of very poor people from Eastern Europe".

    He added: "Ukip has opposed all of this from the start."

    Farage, who is running against Commons Speaker John Bercow in Buckingham, said that people were "roundly abused" for talking about the issue.

    "It matters because since 1997 every single city and market town has been fundamentally changed by largest inflow of migrants in British history," he said.

    Immigration minister Phil Woolas was forced to defend Gordon Brown's comments in Rochdale where he was overheard referring to a Labour supporter who raised concerns about immigrants as "bigoted".

    "We don’t think she was bigoted at all," he said.

    "He had misheard."

    Woolas said the current government was the first to have a managed migration system.

    "Immigration can be good for Britain, but unmanaged it's bad for communities and services," he said.

    "That’s why we've put into place the points based system."

    Shadow immigration minister Damian Green said immigration had been "out of control" under Labour, and a Conservative government would bring net immigration down from hundreds of thousands a year to "tens of thousands".

    Liberal Democrat immigration spokesman Tom Brake said his party wanted a policy that was "firm but fair" and denied the Lib Dems wanted to introduce a blanket amnesty for all illegal immigrants currently living in the UK.

    "We are not calling for an amnesty, we are calling for an earned route to citizenship," he said.

    Brake said under Liberal Democrat proposals those eligible for amnesty would have to have been in the country for ten years, speak English and have no criminal record.

    But Green said where operated in other countries amnesties simply led to greater levels of illegal immigration.

    And he dismissed Brake's accusation that Tory London Mayor Boris Johnson favoured an amnesty.

    "Boris is a great mayor of London but he is not going to be immigration minister," Green said.

    Pressed on his party's policy, Green revealed that the Conservatives would place a cap on the total number of work permits issued, rather than the total net immigration figure which would be "flexible every year".

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