Thursday, November 03, 2016
Osborne's u-turn on immigration
According to the Independent George Osborne has rejected Theresa May’s suggestion that immigration causes unemployment by noting that the claim is contradicted by “hard data”.
According to the paper the former chancellor said the claim, included in the Prime Minister’s Tory conference speech last month, “doesn’t really stack up” because of simultaneous record employment and immigration to the UK.
Ms May claimed to Tory delegates at the start of October that people across Britain found “themselves out of work or on lower wages because of low-skilled immigration” – and that this was a reason for restricting immigration.
This is quite a u-turn for Osborne. When he was in Government the Conservative side of the coalition pushed very hard to restrict immigration despite resistance from the likes of Vince Cable, who recognised that we need immigrants to grow the economy.
According to the paper the former chancellor said the claim, included in the Prime Minister’s Tory conference speech last month, “doesn’t really stack up” because of simultaneous record employment and immigration to the UK.
Ms May claimed to Tory delegates at the start of October that people across Britain found “themselves out of work or on lower wages because of low-skilled immigration” – and that this was a reason for restricting immigration.
This is quite a u-turn for Osborne. When he was in Government the Conservative side of the coalition pushed very hard to restrict immigration despite resistance from the likes of Vince Cable, who recognised that we need immigrants to grow the economy.
