Immigration rethink urged

A Labour MP has called on the government to rethink its plans to restrict Commonwealth immigration.

Austin Mitchell used a Westminster Hall debate on Tuesday to highlight the damage he says will be done to the UK's relations with its former empire.

In an interview with ePolitix.com the Greater Grimsby MP said that the government's plan to further restrict the visiting and migration rights of Commonwealth citizens was a mistake.

The Home Office and the immigration services are consulting on plans to reduce visiting visas from six to three months and end ancestral rights visas.

Mitchell told this website: "These moves represent an attitude that is getting more restrictive towards Commonwealth migration and damages our old ties with the Commonwealth which are longstanding, ties of kith and kin, a history of standing together in war.

"Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and others fought for us in two world wars and now we want to restrict their rights to travel here."

Asked why the government was attempting the move he said: "It is the result of a panic about the fact that anyone from the European Union can come here.

"We have such a large migration here from eastern Europe, particularly Poland, that this is creating a panic about immigration that government wants to show itself as tough.

"Because they can't do anything about EU migration they want to show themselves tough by trying to cut down on Commonwealth migration.

"That means that the points based system which is going to be exclusive and cut down on visits and ancestral tie visa.

"This is not going to have much affect because the numbers are relatively small and it will produce intense bad feeling in the Commonwealth and they will take retaliatory action against British migration and visitors."

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