The World

Britain’s Conservative Party promised to restrict immigration during the last election campaign. But the policies they unveiled this week are pointless and self-defeating. At a time when Britain should be doing everything it can to help private business, the government is deliberately setting out to make things harder by imposing an arbitary cap on the number of skilled migrants who can come into the country to work.

The people the government are seeking to exclude are not poor foreigners who will compete with unskilled workers, or who will sit around on the dole. These are talented people with job offers, who will help British businesses to grow and who will pay taxes in Britain and spend their salaries here. And yet the government is intent on cutting their numbers.

On a personal level, I have now encountered several employers who have been hit by this new policy. An investment bank that wanted to hire an African mining analyst, but cannot get him a visa. A PR consultancy that is building up its business in the Middle East and wanted to hire somebody from the Gulf, with the right contacts and language skills – no chance. A university department that wanted to hire some post-docs – forbidden. And these are just the examples that I have come across personally. Apparently the business secretary’s desk is groaning with similar complaints.

So what is going on? The problem is that the government has promised to cut the number of migrants coming into the country. But it is fiendishly hard to tackle the kind of migration that actually worries the great British public. This basically falls into three categories:

1. Semi-skilled workers from Europe: The enlargement of the EU led to hundreds of thousands of Poles and others coming to Britain in search of work. This was great for the likes of me – since it was suddenly easier to get a builder and restaurant and bars were filled with eager and personable new staff. But it was not so great if you were a British builder, or were competing for local services. The backlash against Polish immigration put the issue on the agenda – and probably provoked the Tories to promise to act. But there is a big snag. Free movement of labour is guaranteed by the European treaties. So the government cannot do anything about this sort of immigration.

2. Asylum seekers – This group of migrants provide a regular stream of stories for the British papers about vast families of immigrants, living in public housing and claiming the dole. They tend to be from not very popular groups – gypsies, Somalis etc. But, again, this form of migration is hard to control. Asylum seekers can be treated more sceptically and harshly. However, the basic right to asylum is guaranteed by international conventions and laws that Britain is loth to withdraw from.

3. Muslims – Muslim immigration has become much more controversial since the 7/7 bombings in London in 2005, which were largely planned and carried out by British citizens of South Asian origin. But, again, this is a very tricky thing to control. Most of the immigration from Pakistan and elsewhere took place decades ago. The 7/7 bombers were the children of migrants. Current immigration is mainly driven by arranged marriages, which are covered by the laws on “family reunion”. Again, the laws can be changed or tightened. But not without considerable difficulty – and the risk of being acccused of racial discrimination and the violation of international conventions.

So, unable effectively to tackle the kind of immigration that actually upsets people, the British government is taking aim at the one group of migrants that are largely uncontroversial and that unambiguously contribute to the country’s well-being. What idiocy.