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Theresa May: Cohesion 'impossible' with high migration Theresa May pledges asylum reform and immigration crackdown
(about 1 hour later)
High levels of immigration make it "impossible to build a cohesive society", Theresa May has warned. Home Secretary Theresa May has unveiled a reform of the UK's asylum rules during an uncompromising speech to the Conservative Party conference.
The home secretary told the Conservative Party conference Britain "does not need" net migration at current levels, saying the net economic effect was "close to zero" at best. Mrs May pledged to reduce the numbers claiming in Britain while taking in the "most vulnerable" refugees from conflict zones around the world.
Prime Minister David Cameron said he agreed with her comments. She also said high migration made a "cohesive society" impossible.
Mrs May also announced changes to the way asylum claims are handled and defended student visa curbs. Her speech was criticised by business groups, with the Institute of Directors attacking its "irresponsible rhetoric".
Net migration into the UK currently stands at a record high, reaching 330,000 in the year to March.Net migration into the UK currently stands at a record high, reaching 330,000 in the year to March.
The Home Secretary told the Conservative Party conference Britain "does not need" net migration at current levels, saying the net economic effect was "close to zero" at best.
In other developments:In other developments:
BBC assistant political editor Norman Smith said Mrs May's comments on immigration were "extraordinarily tough" and "utterly uncompromising".BBC assistant political editor Norman Smith said Mrs May's comments on immigration were "extraordinarily tough" and "utterly uncompromising".
Addressing the party conference in Manchester, she said refugees should not be "conflated" with economic migrants. Beforehand, Prime Minister David Cameron had said he agreed with what she was to say.
'British approach'
Addressing the party conference in Manchester, she said the main way of claiming asylum - by people already in the country - had failed, and rewarded "wealthiest, the luckiest and the strongest".
The UK would not adopt a common EU policy "in a thousand years" she said, promising a "new British approach", including tougher treatment for people who have travelled to the UK from other safe countries.
People who have "spurned the chance to seek protection elsewhere" will not have an automatic right to stay in the UK, she said.
Instead, priority will be given to "helping the most vulnerable people in the world's most dangerous places", she pledged.
The first ever "annual asylum strategy" will be published next year, along with a register of people and organisations able to accommodate refugees.
The overhaul also includes a new system of "safe return reviews" so asylum seekers can be returned home when their country is assessed as being safe, and the use of alternative ID documents to remove failed asylum seekers who do not have their own passports.
Mrs May also said refugees should not be "conflated" with economic migrants.
The "desire for a better life is perfectly understandable" she said, but "there is a limit to the amount of immigration any country can and should take".The "desire for a better life is perfectly understandable" she said, but "there is a limit to the amount of immigration any country can and should take".
Controls are needed, she said: "Because when immigration is too high, when the pace of change is too fast, it's impossible to build a cohesive society. It's difficult for schools and hospitals and core infrastructure like housing and transport to cope."Controls are needed, she said: "Because when immigration is too high, when the pace of change is too fast, it's impossible to build a cohesive society. It's difficult for schools and hospitals and core infrastructure like housing and transport to cope."
Wages are also forced down and some people "forced out of work altogether", she added: "But even if we could manage all the consequences of mass immigration, Britain does not need net migration in the hundreds of thousands every year."Wages are also forced down and some people "forced out of work altogether", she added: "But even if we could manage all the consequences of mass immigration, Britain does not need net migration in the hundreds of thousands every year."
Mrs May said immigrants could fill skills gaps, but said "not every person coming to Britain right now is a skilled electrician, engineer or doctor".Mrs May said immigrants could fill skills gaps, but said "not every person coming to Britain right now is a skilled electrician, engineer or doctor".
She said evidence showed that "at best the net economic and fiscal effect of high immigration is close to zero" and that there was "no case, in the national interest, for immigration of the scale we have experienced over the last decade".She said evidence showed that "at best the net economic and fiscal effect of high immigration is close to zero" and that there was "no case, in the national interest, for immigration of the scale we have experienced over the last decade".
The home secretary hit back at critics of her planned crackdown on student visas, saying "too many" students were not returning when their visas run out.The home secretary hit back at critics of her planned crackdown on student visas, saying "too many" students were not returning when their visas run out.
"So I don't care what the university lobbyists say: the rules must be enforced."So I don't care what the university lobbyists say: the rules must be enforced.
"Students, yes. Over-stayers, no. And the universities must make this happen.""Students, yes. Over-stayers, no. And the universities must make this happen."
She also promised a new approach to asylum claims, including tougher treatment for people who have travelled to the UK from other safe countries. Institute of Directors director general Simon Walker said he was "astonished" by the home secretary's "irresponsible rhetoric and pandering to anti-immigration sentiment".
The first ever "annual asylum strategy" will be published next year, she said, along with a register of people and organisations able to accommodate refugees. "It is yet another example of the home secretary turning away the world's best and brightest, putting internal party politics ahead of the country, and helping our competitor economies instead of our own," he said, adding that "the myth of the job-stealing-immigrant is nonsense".
The home secretary also strayed beyond her portfolio and called for RAF airstrikes in Syria, saying terrorists there "have taken the conscious decision to make themselves our enemies" Speaking on BBC Radio 4's The World at One, John Cridland, of the CBI, said the government was ending up penalising skilled workers who "add hugely to the collective economic strength of the economy".
"They plan to attack our country and kill our citizens. And they need to know - even if they are British nationals - that if they plan to do harm to this country, if they want to take the lives of British citizens, we will make sure that they have no place to hide."
Ministers have admitted missing their target to reduce net migration below 100,000, blaming the scale of migration from within the EU.Ministers have admitted missing their target to reduce net migration below 100,000, blaming the scale of migration from within the EU.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Cameron said he agreed with Mrs May's comments on the subject, saying integrating new arrivals was "more difficult if you have excessive levels of migration".Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Cameron said he agreed with Mrs May's comments on the subject, saying integrating new arrivals was "more difficult if you have excessive levels of migration".
The PM also said he was "incredibly proud" the UK had built one of the "most successful multi-racial, multi-ethnic democracies anywhere in the world".The PM also said he was "incredibly proud" the UK had built one of the "most successful multi-racial, multi-ethnic democracies anywhere in the world".
But he said that for an "integrated, successful society you have to make sure there are enough school places and that hospitals aren't overcrowded".But he said that for an "integrated, successful society you have to make sure there are enough school places and that hospitals aren't overcrowded".
According to the latest figures released in August, net migration of EU citizens was 183,000, up 53,000 from the year ending March 2014.According to the latest figures released in August, net migration of EU citizens was 183,000, up 53,000 from the year ending March 2014.
The number of those arriving from countries outside the EU was still larger, with net migration measured at 196,000, up 39,000 on a year earlier.The number of those arriving from countries outside the EU was still larger, with net migration measured at 196,000, up 39,000 on a year earlier.
Ministers said the figures were "deeply disappointing".
BBC political correspondent Alex Forsyth says that with talk of who might succeed Mr Cameron continuing on conference sidelines, both Mrs May and Mr Johnson's speeches would be closely watched for signs of any leadership ambitions.
The London mayor and Conservative MP will warn that any welfare and tax reforms must not reduce support for "the hardest working and lowest paid".
"Shops workers, cleaners, the people who get up in the small hours or work through the night because they have dreams for what their families can achieve - the people without whom the London economy would simply collapse," he will say.
"[These are] the people Labour is leaving behind and then there is an even more important requirement.
"Because if Labour is once again becoming the party that pointlessly bashes the rich it is we who give everyone the tools to make their own lives and their own successes."