British Prime Minister, David Cameron, has outlined new proposals to control immigration that according to a new figure has reached to the highest level in a decade.
In a speech in London on Thursday, Cameron said the proposal that will be featured in a bill to be announced in the Queen’s speech next week.
Under the new plan, it will be a criminal offence to work illegally in Britain and police will be entitled to seize wages from undocumented workers and will increase pressure on the firms that hire them.
Cameron has also repeated his earlier promise to restrict the right of European Union workers from claiming unemployment and in-work welfare benefits.
On the EU, the Conservative leader said he will renegotiate Britain's relationship with the 28-member bloc before holding an in-out referendum by 2017. He said face-to-face discussions with European leader are likely at the bloc summit in Riga on Friday.
"Changes to welfare to cut EU migration will be an absolute requirement in the renegotiation," Cameron said.
"Well, I think the UK is not likely to exit the European Union although there is immense pressure on the Cameron’s government in the next five years from the right wing Conservative party to have a referendum which Cameron promised the British public. So, there would be a referendum”, Shabbir Razvi, a London-based political commentator told Press TV.
Shabbir said that Britain's exit from the EU bloc will affect the market.
"I suspect businesses actually do not want to come out of the European Union because having a bigger market will facilitate greater profits for them. So, generally business is not in favor of coming out of the European Union. Surveys carried out earlier indicate more than 35 percent will for to continue be part of the European Union. It’s potentially possible that some kind of agreement would be reached whereby Britain may continue to have its pound sterling as a currency but still be part of the European Union.", he said.
European Commission chief, Jean-Claude Juncker, has expressed his readiness to work with Cameron but said the issues such as the freedom of movement are non-negotiable.
‘Most sensitive issue’
Prior to the general elections, immigration was one of the top three most important issues for voters.
Cameron, whose party secured an absolute majority in the May 7 vote after heading a coalition for five years, wants a change in the current immigration policy. However, it will be impossible for him to place constraints on migration as long as Britain remains part of the EU.
The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics also show the migration rose by 50% to 318,000 last year - with sharp increases from inside and outside the EU.
According to the data, a total of 641,000 people moved to the UK in 2014.
Cameron says he won't 'cave in' on migration target despite new figures. But critics have questioned whether Cameron's welfare changes would really help reduce the influx of immigrants.
The Conservatives had pledged before the 2010 election to reduce numbers to less than 100,000, a target they acknowledge they have failed to meet.The prime minister's proposals to clamp down on illegal immigration are also unlikely to affect the official statistics, although they may prove popular.
His proposals include making all banks check their accounts against databases of people in the country illegally, and satellite tracking tags for foreign criminals awaiting deportation.
Even the party which favors a complete curb on immigration such as the UK Independence Party, UKIP, calls Cameron’s proposals a "smokescreen to mask today's appalling immigration statistics".
"We can't control our borders if 400 million people have an automatic legal right to come here," said UKIP MP Douglas Carswell.
MTM/JAS/SKL
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website