Brown hands immigration policy to the EU
Posted, September 25, 2008 @ 15:00
Ministers should cooperate, but one-size-fits-all approach would be bad for Britain
Brussels, 25th September 2008 -- The immigration and asylum pact being agreed by interior ministers in Brussels today, will see Britain lose its ability to have full control over its own borders, Philip Bradbourn MEP, Conservative justice and home affairs spokesman in the European Parliament, warned today.
Ministers are also to discuss plans for an EU Blue Card system, based on the US Green Card, which would allow qualified non-EU workers to work within the EU.
Mr Bradbourn said:
"Britain should cooperate with its European neighbours over immigration, but this pact goes too far towards compulsion.
"The UK's current immigration policy is inadequate but at least we have the ability to change it through the ballot box. In this pact we are tying ourselves into an agreement that will diminish our ability to select the skilled migrants we need, and to return illegal immigrants.
"Several EU countries will not be satisfied until we have a single immigration policy, and the actions taken by British ministers today are another step on the slippery slope. National governments must be able to decide who can enter and work in their own countries, and police their own borders. Yet another example of where Labour's red lines have turned out to be red herrings."