Migrationwatch Urges ConDem Regime to “Come Clean” over Its “Secret” Deal to Give British Jobs to Indian Workers
Migrationwatch UK’s Sir Andrew Green gave further evidence of his increasing disenchantment with the Conservative Party with a new press release which accused the ConDem regime of “secretly” negotiating an EU Trade Agreement which will give British jobs to Indians and urged the Government to “come clean” on the topic.
Sir Andrew was in fact referring to the EU’s Mode 4 agreement which was first brought to the public’s attention by the British National Party’s Nick Griffin MEP, who asked a question in the EU Parliament on the topic in July this year.That issue aside, Migrationwatch’s statement is to be welcomed as it could signify — for the second time in less than a month — a realisation by Sir Andrew and many other Conservative Party supporters that David Cameron has pulled the wool over their eyes and has no intention whatsoever of stopping the immigration invasion.
“At just the time that the government is calling on the private sector to create jobs, they are negotiating in secret an agreement between the EU and India that would allow an unlimited number of Indian specialists to do work in Britain that has not been first offered to British workers,” Sir Andrew said in the statement.
“The EU/India Free Trade Agreement due to be signed in December will permit Indian corporations to transfer specialist staff to EU countries, notably the UK, without any upper limit on numbers,” he continued.
The Migrationwatch statement went on to point out a number of “potentially serious implications for Britain” which it listed as follows:
- The initiative will be in the hands of Indian companies who win a service contract in the EU.
- There is, apparently, to be no limit on numbers.
- Staff only have to have worked for one year with the Indian company concerned.
- There is no test to see if a British worker is available.
- The concessions become irreversible by individual member states because they will have been granted under the trade arrangements which are matters for Commission competence.
- The UK will be the main target of Indian companies, largely for language reasons, but also because they are already well established here.
- The period that workers are allowed to stay will, in theory, be limited to three years but, in practice, it will be impossible to find and return any who overstay.
“This Agreement could, of course, present very serious problems in implementing a cap on economic migration,” Sir Andrew continued, reminding his flagging Tory readers that the ConDem government claimed to be committed to that cap.
“The concessions under it would have to be operated outside any cap or the level of the cap would have to be adjusted to allow for demand for Intra Company Transfer visas from India,” he pointed out, meaning of course, that the Agreement made a mockery of the entire cap concept.
Mr Griffin’s original EU Parliament question also raised the topic of the depression of salaries in Britain which such an influx would inevitably create.
“Clearly, the mass movement of labour across borders will create dire downward pressure on middle- and high-income wage earners in the relevant service industries. It will also create a significant new wave of potential immigration, as a proportion of the new workforce will seek permanent entry and the inclusion of dependents,” Mr Griffin said in July this year.
Sir Andrew's statement echoed these sentiments: “There may be scope for a minimum salary but such conditions are notoriously hard to enforce.
“It is time the Government came clean about what is in this agreement,” Sir Andrew said.
“It looks as though the Indians are about to drive a bullock and cart through Britain's immigration system despite government talk about creating jobs in the private sector.
“There is no point in a limit on economic migration if specialists from India are excluded from the cap by a separate agreement,” he said.
“British IT workers are already suffering the impact on jobs of tens of thousands of Indian IT staff working in Britain; we already have 48,000 unemployed British IT specialists.”
Under the Lisbon Treaty, Britain has veto against the trade agreement and it is expected to be implemented by mid-2011.
