bovlomov wrote:
There is a case for an immigration policy based on other factors (development, social justice, multi-culturalism) rather than the short-term bottom line. Is that a case you would like to make?
As I said previously, it is best not to have immigration policies which let in lots of poor and unemployed people. That is what the EU's rules compel us to do.
When we leave the EU we will be able to decide on our own immigration policies, like most countries in the world already do.
Most countries in the world do not encourage immigration by poor and unemployed people, and I expect we will adopt a similar approach.
The EU strictly controls immigration from outside its borders precisely because it realises it is a necessity to protect jobs, welfare systems and the wider economy.
We are leaving the EU to give ourselves protection against immigration we don't need or want, just as the EU does against immigration it doesn't need or want.
We are often told immigration is a social, cultural and economic benefit. If that is the case why does the EU strictly control immigration from non-EU countries, and why do we rarely hear calls from 'liberals' for it to end these controls?