Labour to 'steal' Conservative plan for tougher immigration law

THE Government is poised to "steal" the Conservatives' policy of setting limits on the number of non-EU migrants who come to live in Britain each year.

Liam Byrne, the immigration minister, last week repeatedly refused to rule out annual quotas as a means of controlling the rising number of migrants.

Home Office officials have now confirmed they are considering whether such a scheme would help to ease the pressures on public services created by large numbers of new arrivals.

Ministers have previously ruled out the Conservatives' plans for a cap on numbers, believing that a points system to replace the existing 80 different routes to working or studying in the UK was the best way to tackle the issue.

The Government is introducing an Australian-style points system next year, where migrants from outside the EU earn points based on factors including skills, qualifications, age, abilities and previous or prospective salary.

But the first official review of the impact of migrants on services such as health, education and housing, published last week, is thought to have reinforced the need for greater control of the number of migrants.

The Home Office's migration impact forum found that most regions of the UK were concerned about the pressures on GPs, hospital accident and emergency departments, schools and other public services.

In an interview with Channel 4 News last week, Byrne was asked four times whether he was now prepared to consider the introduction of limits on non-EU migrants and each time he refused to rule it out, beginning his answer by saying: "My focus is on getting the points system right..."

A Home Office source said: "Why shouldn't we consider all possible means of dealing with the impact of migrant workers... draw your own conclusion's from Byrne's response."

The move brought fresh Tory accusations that the Government is plundering its policies in the same way it did over inheritance tax.

Damian Green, shadow immigration minister, said: "The immigration system is in chaos and it will remain in chaos unless they produce some limits. It would be sensible of them to steal our policy and if they have the nerve to steal another Conservative policy it is a matter for them and their consciences."

The Office of National Statistics has revised its estimate of the number of migrants coming to the UK each year, from 145,000 to 190,000. In Scotland, those figures have increased from 4,000 to 8,500.