ConDem’s Business Secretary Demands More Immigration
The ConDem regime’s Business Secretary Vince Cable has inadvertently revealed the coalition government’s true feelings on immigration by calling for even more immigrants, not less, to enter Britain.
Vince Cable and David CameronMr Cable said the Government “should not saddle the UK with excessive border controls” on the highly questionable grounds that it would “hurt economic growth.”Mr Cable, a Liberal Democrat, even criticised the Tory party’s pathetic “migrant cap” which, as he quite correctly pointed out, was nonsense because it was calculated after deducting immigrants from emigrants.
Mr Cable said the recently reported 196,000 increase in the UK population last year was calculated by working out how many more immigrants came into Britain than Britons who emigrated.
Mr Cable said the growth was caused not by an increase in work permits for non-EU citizens, which fell by 14 percent, but by a significant drop in the numbers leaving Britain, which would not be affected by a cap.
“I've full confidence that my colleagues understand the need for immigration control measures that support business recovery and economic growth,” Mr Cable said.
Earlier this year, during a trip to India, Mr Cable also said that it would not be a good idea to cap the number of work permits issued to Indians entering Britain on the grounds that it would “deter trade” with that country.
At the time, Mr Cable was even more open than usual on his government’s views: “It's no great secret that in my department and me personally, we want to see an open economy and as liberal an immigration policy as it's possible to have,” he said.
Liberal Democrat leader and deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has defended Mr Cable’s position in public.
At a question and answer session in Croydon, South London, Mr Clegg confessed that his views represented the government, both Tory and Lib Dems.
“What Vince said, which is widely shared across Government, is that all ministers want to get the balance right between having an immigration system that is properly managed, but one that also helps the economy grow and creates jobs,” Mr Clegg said.
