Ministers at war over open door policy on immigration
Sound familiar? Open the borders and join the union.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/a ... ge_id=1770
Ministers at war over open door policy on immigration
By TIM SHIPMAN and MATTHEW HICKLEY
10:17am 10th August 2006
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Senior ministers were in disarray last night over whether to open Britain's borders to a predicted 140,000 immigrants from Romania and Bulgaria
The Foreign Office wants Britain to keep its open door policy when the two Eastern European states join the EU next January, according to senior government sources.
But the Home Office wants special safeguards put in place to prevent a new crimewave.
A leaked Whitehall memo recently revealed that one in three migrants from Romania and Bulgaria could be 'undesirables' or members of criminal gangs who want to operate in Britain.
Europe Minister Geoff Hoon clashed with Home Office ministers over the issue at a Cabinet committee meeting last month.
Details of the ministerial chaos emerged as Home Secretary John Reid admitted that mass migration posed the 'greatest challenge' to European governments. He used a major speech to warn that terrorists are posing as asylum seekers while plotting to destroy our freedoms.
The row over Romania and Bulgaria follows a massive miscalculation in 2004, when Britain was one of only three EU states that agreed to admit unlimited numbers of immigrants from Poland and other new members.
Ministers predicted that 13,000 would come but around 700,000 have arrived. Now there are calls even from within Labour ranks to block arrivals from Romania and Bulgaria.
Minutes of the Cabinet committee meeting on July 20 show that Immigration Minister Liam Byrne made clear the Government would need to bring in special measures, such as those in place against Poles in much of the rest of the EU.
A source who has read the minutes said: 'Mr Hoon said there should not be any delay in allowing Bulgaria and Romania to have free passage of people. He said if there was a delay then goodwill would be lost in the EU and public opinion in the UK would turn against the two nations. He also played down the potential impact of crime.'
Safeguards
The Foreign Office says special safeguards should be brought in only if there are problems with new arrivals. But Mr Byrne, who chaired the meeting, concluded by saying a letter would be sent to Tony Blair setting out 'the strongest options'. These are expected to include limits on the number of immigrants accepted.
Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said last night: 'This demonstrates yet again that this Government is rudderless. It is no use the Home Secretary making statements about getting tough when the two great departments of state can't seem to agree on the policy.'
Mr Reid, meanwhile, explicitly linked immigration to the terrorist threat in a speech on security to the Demos think-tank in London.
He said the modern threat came not from fascist regimes but from fascist individuals 'many of whom come from far beyond our shores and have no real connection with our nation - beyond a desire to attack it'.
He warned: 'Some fight for their right to asylum in the UK from repressive regimes - not to spread liberty but to plan and plot for more repressive regimes. Some come as students yet freely express contempt for the intellectual freedoms that have been the bedrock of our academic institutions.'
The Home Secretary attacked judges and political opponents - including his own MPs - who have opposed tougher anti-terror laws. He claimed they 'just don't get' the scale of the threat.
He voiced frustration at his lack of powers to lock up or deport suspects and attacked human rights laws 'made for another age.'
The Home Secretary also hinted that Britons may have to sacrifice more of their freedoms to stop them being misused by terrorists.
In a major concession to immigration campaigners, he admitted that those wanting to discuss the issue were not racists but 'intelligent, ordinary people interested in the future of their country - and they come from all ethnic backgrounds.'
