Simple system, simply understood

This election has thrown us all a curve ball where immigration and the policies around it are concerned. Immigration has turned out to be one of the hottest topics of the day. The British public are not sure what to think about the number of immigrants entering our country. There is no doubt that there are a huge number of people entering the UK, but is this really reaching unprecedented, uncontrollable levels?

I think that Britain needs these immigrants. We do not want to do the low skilled and undesirable jobs that are taken by these migrants, yet we then complain when immigrants take these jobs. The jobs that we do not desire are also those which keep our country running, the bin men, the cleaners and those who work in our factories and industry. These are crucial jobs and necessary to help Britain build itself a strong industrial base and continue to keep Britain’s position as the sixth largest economy in the world.

I do confess that it isn’t a perfect nation. We have racial issues, for example towns which approach near-segregation and areas which have fallen victim to race riots. Some members of the public disagree with immigration. They argue that Britain is full and encourage a blanket ban on anyone entering the country. This, in my view, would be detrimental to our economy and our culture.

The parties this year tried to address the issue, whilst keeping in mind that it is a sensitive subject. Our new PM, David Cameron, argued on the campaign trail that we should only allow in those economic migrants who bring the most to the country into Britain. The Tories have also said they would bring in ID cards for foreign nationals. We will see whether this policy will change however, because their new coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats, have offered a different approach. They endorsed regional-based immigration system which would take into account the needs and resources of certain areas of the country.

The parties are going tough, but is it really needed?

We need a simple policy. Forget the region-based immigration, and change the points based system. We need to set basic guidelines to entry and then look at every case on its own basis. If we look at each application on its own basis, we can assess the worthiness of this person to enter the country. Do the immigrants have a job to come to? Savings to keep themselves tided over whilst they find a job? If not, then there must be proof that the applicant is desperate to come into Britain (for example life in danger if remain in own country.) The last condition that should be met with any application is a good knowledge of English. If a British citizen chose to migrate into another country, a satisfactory understanding of the language and culture would be necessary to adapt. A mastery of the language is not compulsory but a basic grasp of simple English phrases and words is a necessity and would help them to assimilate into the British multi-cultural society.

It is not extreme, and it will not make a massive impact on the numbers coming into our country but it will make a difference. It will make the system much simpler, and allow migrants to see what is needed to enter Britain. The need to set up a guideline for applicants, like when applying for a job is crucial and would dispel the negative comments about the influx of immigrants that arise.

Immigrants are crucial to Britain. We cannot push them out, and we cannot ban them from entering. Forget the issue, a simple system will be, simply, understood.