This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk_politics/6999611.stm
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 0 | Version 1 |
---|---|
Lib Dems back migrant 'amnesty' | |
(about 12 hours later) | |
Plans to offer a "selective" amnesty to illegal immigrants in the UK have been backed at the Lib Dem conference. | |
Home affairs spokesman Nick Clegg said it was "absurd" to suggest the 500,000 people in Britain illegally could all be deported - at £11,000 a head. | |
Instead those who have been in Britain 10 years should get the right to earn citizenship, he told the conference. | |
Ministers have repeatedly rejected calls for an amnesty, arguing it would send out the wrong signal. | |
The government says it does not know how many illegal immigrants are in the UK. However, pressure group Migration Watch puts the figure at between 515,000 and 870,000. | |
'Fantasy politics' | |
Mr Clegg said it was "fantasy politics" to discuss mass deportation of the "underclass" of people who do not pay tax, lack employment rights and access to healthcare and banking - when the government does not know where most of them are. | |
Rather than spend billions trying to deport them all, it would be better to have a new border police force and focus enforcement efforts on people traffickers and criminals, he said. | |
I do not think our party should ever be cowed into silence by fear of controversy Nick Clegg class="" href="/1/hi/uk_politics/6999618.stm">At a glance: Day Two | |
And people who have settled in the UK with their families should be given a chance to become citizens. | And people who have settled in the UK with their families should be given a chance to become citizens. |
Under the Lib Dem plan they would have to pass language tests, demonstrate a long-term commitment to the UK and have no criminal record. | |
There would also be a charge - possibly of several thousand pounds - or a requirement do community service. | |
Illegal immigrants would be given an "earned route" to citizenship, beginning with a two-year work permit. | |
'Twilight world' | |
Party president Simon Hughes said it would end "the perpetual twilight world for those who have been here for so long". | |
A Lib Dem source denied the plan would lead to an increase in illegal immigration - but admitted it would not go down well with anti-migration campaigners. | A Lib Dem source denied the plan would lead to an increase in illegal immigration - but admitted it would not go down well with anti-migration campaigners. |
These proposals will encourage people to break the law and enter the UK illegally Damian GreenShadow immigration minister | |
Mr Clegg said while the Tories and Labour were locked in a "nasty" bidding war over who could be the toughest on immigration, the Lib Dems should stand up for "freedom, tolerance and diversity". | |
"I do not think our party should ever be cowed into silence by fear of controversy," he said. | |
But for the Tories, shadow immigration minister, Damian Green said it was the Liberal Democrats who were living in a "fantasy world". | |
Income tax cut | |
"These proposals will encourage people to break the law and enter the UK illegally. | |
"Other countries have tried amnesties and have had to have five or more. | |
"This will send out a message that Britain's borders are well and truly open to everyone in the world." | |
The party also wants work permits for non-EU nationals to be made more expensive for employers, so the money can be spent on training up British workers for other jobs. | |
On the second full day of their annual conference, the Lib Dems backed proposals to cut the basic income tax rate by 4p, scrap council tax and increase green taxes - including a £10 charge on short haul flights and £2,000 road tax for gas-guzzling vehicles. | |
Treasury spokesman Vince Cable wants to target the rich by ending taper relief on capital gains tax and introducing a local income tax. | |
But he appeared to distance himself from comments by party leader Sir Menzies Campbell, who when asked if the Lib Dem proposals mean the top 10% of earning would get a "hammering," replied "yes". | But he appeared to distance himself from comments by party leader Sir Menzies Campbell, who when asked if the Lib Dem proposals mean the top 10% of earning would get a "hammering," replied "yes". |
"I wouldn't use that language," Mr Cable told BBC2's Today at Conference. "We want a fairer tax system but I certainly don't want to hammer them." | |