Home Secretary refuses to cap the number of immigrants

Home Secretary Alan Johnson has refused to limit the number of immigrants coming to Britain, while his Immigration Minister Phil Woolas has pledged the population will not grow to 70 million, according to the Daily Mail.

Mr Johnson said he would not bring in a cap because it would harm the economy, and claims the economic contribution that immigration had made was ‘irrefutable’.

Johnson said: “I do not lie awake at night worrying about a population of 70 million.

“I’m happy to live in a multi-cultural society. I’m happy to live in a society where we not only welcome those coming to live and work in this country, but also where we can go and live and work in other countries.”

According to the paper, earlier this week, a poll found one in four Britons would like to see the population reduced by up to a third to ease overcrowding.

Seven out of ten told the Daily Mail the best way to curb population growth was to cut immigration.

The population at the moment stands at around 61 million. If it hits 70 million, it is most likely the other seven million immigrants will make up most of the rise.

Sir Andrew Green, chairman of think tank Migrationwatch said in an interview with the Daily Express: “Mr Johnson’s comments to the home affairs select committee were a seismic shift in Labour’s immigration policy and a humiliating blow to Immigration Minister Phil Woolas, who has promised to limit the population to below 70 million.”

His campaign group also warned the balance of those settling in the country would have to be reduced to 50,000 from the current level of 237,000 every year.

“The minister should be having nightmares about the impact on our schools, hospitals, environment and quality of life of another 10 million people,” Sir Andrew added.

In recent years, Labour has tried to give the impression that the party is talking tough on immigration, and tried to head off the rise of the British National Party (BNP), who defeated Labour in the Euro election last June.

The government’s points-based system is likely to cut immigrant numbers by around 8 per cent to 217,000. Tory immigration policies are likely to bring about a drop of 27 per cent to 172, 000.

Former Labour Minister Frank Field was dismissive of the Home Secretary’s claims ‘not to lie awake at night’. He said: “It must be a mis-quote because it should be."

Mr Field runs a cross-party group called Balanced Migration, which campaigns to limit the number of immigrants to manageable levels.