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| With the General Election approaching you, like many people, may be looking at the main parties’ policies and weighing up how you might vote. As your local Conservative Party candidate, I wanted to write to you about an issue that many people raise with me – immigration. |
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| Since 1997, Labour’s open–door immigration policy has seen the largest and most sustained rise in immigration in our history. In 1997 net migration – the number of people who come to settle here, minus the number who leave – was 48,000. In 2008 it was 163,000. |
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| These figures help explain the pressure immigration is now placing on public services such as housing, health and schools. A Conservative government will reduce immigration to the levels of the 1990s – tens of thousands a year, instead of the hundreds of thousands a year under Labour. |
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| Our immigration policy is based on three strands: |
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- an annual limit on the numbers of non-EU economic migrants allowed to work here, taking into consideration the effects a rising population has on our public services and local communities;
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- preventing illegal migration, with important new rules to tighten up the student visa system – the biggest hole in our border controls - and a dedicated Border Police Force to crack down on illegal immigration and people trafficking; and
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- promoting integration into British society, as we believe that everyone coming to this country must be ready to embrace the core values of British society and become a part of their local community. We will only people to come here to marry if they can speak English.
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| If you believe that we can’t go on with an immigration system that is out of control then vote for change. Five more years of Gordon Brown would make things even worse. David Cameron and the Conservatives have the energy, leadership and values to get our country moving again. |
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