British lawmakers to call for UK immigration cap

LONDON - British lawmakers said Sunday they plan to demand new limits on immigration to help slow the population growth in the United Kingdom.

Two ex-government ministers are scheduled to launch a Parliamentary panel on migration on Monday that will call for a new fixed limit on the number of non-European Union citizens allowed to settle permanently in Britain.

Frank Field, a former welfare minister from the governing Labour Party, and Nicholas Soames, once armed forces minister for the Conservative Party, said legislators from all parties had agreed to join their Cross-Party Group on Balanced Migration.

On Monday the panel will publish a report titled "Balanced Migration — A New Approach To Controlling Immigration," which will call for new limits on the length of time non-EU workers are able to reside in the U.K.

Citizens of European Union members can live and work relatively freely in all 27 countries, though some member states have imposed restrictions on those from newly joined states, such as Bulgaria and Romania.

Foreigners from outside the bloc, however, are only allowed U.K. residence based on their skills and on Britain's economic needs, and many qualify for permanent residence once their working permits expire.

Field said he believed there is now widespread public support for limiting the number of foreigners allowed to remain in the U.K. beyond their work permits, which typically last three to five years.

He said the panel's report had been drafted after a European Commission forecast that the U.K. population would rise from 61 million to 77 million within 50 years, mainly due to immigration.

But a migrants' rights group said that any plans to limit immigration could harm the U.K. economy.

"As well as much-needed skilled workers, many come and do unskilled jobs that need to be done, but for which employers are unable to find homegrown workers," said Habib Rahman, chief executive of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, in a statement.

"If skilled migrants stay on after four years it's because an employer wants them and because they have put down roots," Rahman said in the statement.

Britain's Home Office said foreign workers contributed 6 billion pounds to the economy in 2006. In 2007, Britain's gross domestic product was 1.41 trillion pounds.

The U.K. recently adopted a points-based system to ensure that only skilled foreigners needed by the British economy are admitted into the country.- AP

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