Coalition to miss immigration target in 2011
By politics.co.uk staff
The coalition government’s immigration policies will barely dent the net migration figure in 2011, according to a thinktank.
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) believes migration trends next year will not see the overall figure fall significantly below 200,000.
This means it will remain unchanged from the average annual level during the last decade, a period when concerns about immigration culminated in the issue dominating the doorstep in the 2010 general election campaign.
Ministers have pledged to reduce immigration “from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands”.
But the IPPR argued that immigration from the EU, especially Ireland, together with a drop in emigration by UK citizens and a delay in curbs on the numbers of foreign students meant that would not occur in 2011.
The much-publicised cap on non-EU migrants will continue to decline as a proportion of the total to just two or three per cent.
IPPR director Nick Pearce said the cap “could hurt the economic recovery”, while other “hasty measures” could prove even more damaging.
“Bringing down the level of immigration, which has been high in recent years, is a legitimate policy goal,” he said.
“But this should only be done by making long-term and sustainable reforms to the structure of our economy and labour market.”
The government is taking a longer-term approach to the problem, arguing additional controls will be introduced throughout 2011.
“We will exert steady downward pressure on immigration numbers through the course of this parliament, which is the sensible way to deal with the uncontrolled immigration system we inherited,” immigration minister Damian Green commented.
