Business minister claims ‘toxic’ views inform decisions
Activists at last week’s Liberal Democrat autumn conference have been told by coalition business minister, Vince Cable, that ‘toxic’ public opinion in the UK makes it difficult for politicians to make a sensible, business-based case for immigration.
Addressing a fringe meeting at the conference in Glasgow, Mr Cable said that it was difficult to make an “economically rational case” for immigration because “we are dealing with an absolutely toxic public opinion”.
As Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Mr Cable has long asserted that foreign workers are vital for the British economy. He has also argued that international students make a valuable contribution of about £12bn a year to the UK economy. However, he has found that his pro-immigration views have met with opposition, both in the press and from within government.
Immigration has turned out to be a major bone of contention between the two coalition parties, occasionally giving rise to public spats. Most recently, Sarah Teather, Liberal Democrat member for Brent Central constituency, announced she was stepping down as an MP having become depressed by a Government plan to introduce ‘security bonds’ for people coming to the UK from so-called high risk countries.
Since the coalition came to power in 2010, measures attributed chiefly to the Conservative contingent have seen the net annual immigration level fall from about 250,000 to about 150,000. Mark Harper, the Government’s immigration minister, has said that he expects to meet David Cameron’s “tens of thousands” target – taken to mean below 100,000 – by 2015.
The government has announced an Immigration Bill, likely to be introduced later in 2013 or early 2014, that will introduce further measures. Among these are proposals to make foreign nationals living in the UK, including students, pay an annual levy of £200 to pay for their healthcare in the UK and the introduction Sarah Teather and others’ bête noire – a ‘security bond’ of up to £3,000 levied on visitors from select “high risk” countries.
Mr Cable said that the Liberal Democrats have been arguing against the Conservatives behind closed doors and have succeeding in getting them to tone down some of their plans. He told the Liberal Democrat activists that, without Liberal Democrat intervention, the cuts would have been much deeper. Talking about the number of students with Tier 4 visas, Mr Cable said: “It could have been a lot worse, I assure you. If you had seen the early proposals, there would have been none left”.
Mr Cable has found it very difficult to make the business case for immigration because opinion polls continually show that the UK public considers the issue to be an important one for voters. He said: “We are a liberal party economically and socially. The natural instincts of our party are to be liberal-minded and rational where immigration is an issue. But we also see these surveys which show that [immigration] is number two in everybody’s political preoccupations after the economy…You can’t ignore your constituents”.
