Immigrants wanting to build a new life in the UK must have a recognised skill to offer, must master the English language, and must pay their way through taxes, according to the CBI.
As immigration continues to be a key topic in the general election campaign, the CBI said it backed a policy of managed migration, which “meets the needs of the UK labour market, while remaining at a level that enables immigrants to be successfully integrated into society”.
But the employers’ body made clear that it takes no position on asylum and refugee status.
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It seemed to tentatively back the Labour approach of a points system to decide whether or not economic migrants should be allowed to stay, saying such as system “may prove a flexible and effective way of managing the flow of economic migrants”.
Sir Digby Jones, director general of the CBI, said: “The words ‘managed’ and ‘controlled’ are not irrelevant or mere sops to public opinion. Any government must show by its actions that they have a real meaning.”
