Reducing the ‘pull factor’ for Romanian and Bulgarian migrants

Whisper it but the government have a fighting chance of reaching their immigration target. The main risk now is an inflow from Romania and Bulgaria when our labour market is fully opened to them next January. That is why the issue of child benefit is important; if we continue to pay it to children left at home it could greatly encourage such migration.

Opposition to the government’s immigration policy is now starting to dissipate. Much of it has come from special interest groups who stand to gain from unlimited immigration. Unfortunately for them, their raucous campaigns are colliding with the facts. It is hard to argue that business is suffering when there is no limit to the transfer of senior international staff, and when only about half of the work permits available for skilled staff have been taken up. Certainly, there are problems with the bureaucracy. That is inevitable when two or three million decisions are taken every year, but those difficulties should ameliorate over time.