Thread: Introduction of immigration cap deemed 'unlawful'

17 December 2010 Last updated at 11:58 ET

Introduction of immigration cap deemed 'unlawful'

Ministers say they are "firmly committed" to reducing levels of net migration.

A temporary cap on the number of skilled workers from outside the EU allowed into the UK was introduced "unlawfully", the High Court has ruled.

Home Secretary Theresa May introduced the cap this summer as an interim measure ahead of a permanent cap.

But a legal challenge to it was upheld with judges ruling that ministers had "sidestepped" Parliamentary scrutiny.

The Home Office said this did not imperil its flagship immigration policy but Labour said it was in "chaos".

The BBC's Home Affairs Correspondent Danny Shaw said the ruling was an embarrassment and a setback for the coalition but was not a fatal blow to its plan for a permanent cap on non-EU migration.

The ruling has nullified the current temporary cap, meaning it is no longer in force.

But ministers can introduce a new cap when Parliament returns in January. This would come into effect immediately but MPs and peers would be able to challenge it within 40 days, the BBC understands.

Prime Minister David Cameron has said current immigration levels are not sustainable and called for net migration - the difference between the number of people entering the UK and those emigrating - to be reduced from nearly 200,000 a year to "tens of thousands".

Curbing numbers

As a first step, ministers introduced a temporary cap for non-EU skilled workers of 24,100 a month in June, in line with a Conservative election commitment.

"We will do all in our power to continue to prevent a rush of applications before our more permanent measures are in placeâ€

Meanwhile, the pro-unlimited immigration contingent within the British government has gotten away with far more illegal and unethical tactics in bringing all these brooding foreigners to the U.K.

It's an outright assault on indigenous Britons and on the West in general.