British jobs for British workers

Further to Alan Johnson’s immigration statement on Monday, Gordon Brown will give a speech on the topic. The intention is to re-engage with core voters who have defected to the BNP. In an interview with the Mail, Brown acknowledged that the public were right to be concerned, especially in times of economic uncertainty and hardship.

Brown is expected to tighten migrant employment controls so that migrants are only used where there are labour shortages. He will strengthen the ‘Labour Market Test’ by extending vacancy exclusivity for UK citizens from 2 weeks to a month, and pledges to retrain British workers.

The proposals are welcome and the rhetoric is tough, giving some weight to the maligned call of ‘British jobs for British workers’. That there are planned, but unannounced, cuts in the skills budget undermines the pledge to retrain British workers, and it is unclear if these proposals are compatible with European employment law. Essentially,