Cabinet wavers over immigration cap as business concerns raised
By politics.co.uk staff
Senior members of the Cabinet are increasingly nervous about the impact of the Conservatives’ proposed immigration cap on the British recovery, according to media reports.
According to some sources, Michael Gove, education secretary, David Willets, university minister, and Oliver Letwin have all raised concerns about the policy, which was a key part of the Tory election campaign.
There is little chance of such a prominent policy not being implemented, but Theresa May, home secretary, is now expected to announce a wide-ranging consultation, with business leaders, university officials and lobby groups extensively questioned about where they think the cap should be.
The cap will be measured each year, but the Tories refused to specify the number in advance during the election campaign.
David Cameron did say that immigration would be limited to “tens of thousands” rather than hundreds of thousands, however.
Economic experts warn that Britain, which suffers from a falling birthrate, simply cannot afford to obstruct the flow of young people of working age to the country.
There are also concerns that by creating too stringent and unwieldy an immigration system, the UK will freeze out talent and lose its reputation as a Mecca for creative and entrepreneurial figures.
