UK Immigration Policy and the Global War on Talent Examined by Business Immigration Law Expert Thalej Vasishta
Gordon Brown's recent announcement regarding proposed changes to UK immigration policy is a response driven by a fear of the far right 'stealing' labour voters rather than sound economic justifications. Business Immigration law expert, Thalej Vasishta, examines the proposals and explains why the proposed changes will in fact harm the British economy.
(PRWeb UK) November 18, 2009
Last week the British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, finally entered the debate on UK immigration policy (http://www. paragonlaw. co. uk). In what could have been an opportunity to set out the clear economic benefits to the UK economy resulting from immigration, Business Immigration law expert, Thalej Vasishta views the speech as a knee jerk reaction to the BNP's increased exposure in the media and a concern on the part of the Labour party that they are under threat of losing the "white working class" vote to the BNP.
The following is an examination of Brown's proposals and why the proposed changes will harm the British economy.
Fear of losing votes and power is now guiding the government's approach to economic policy rather than the best interests of the UK economy.
An example of the Prime Minister's desire to follow the lead of the BNP rather than take the moral high ground and economic high ground, is the announcement that the government will review student visas so that only those coming to the UK to study degree or post-graduate courses, will be allowed entry.
It is ironic that Brown should seek to take further steps to undermine the British economy at this moment in time. British education is one of our most successful exports, contributing £10b to the income of UK universities, colleges and schools collectively. Right now Britain needs every billion it can get it hands on.
Paragon Law have been working with a number of schools and further education colleges on their strategy to recruit international students. The income that these institutions receive from international student fees is the key to their difference survival.
Many colleges and schools have been developing 5 - 10 year strategies for international recruitment, based on previous assurances by this government that they should encourage students from countries such as India and Nigeria to choose the UK as a place to study. It is appears that in making this announcement the government has either not consulted with this part of the education sector or is not interested in their views or the serious consequences for these institutions..
The Labour government have come under fire over numbers with allegations that their handling of immigration will result in the UK population rising above 70 million. Gordon Brown's response in an interview with the Daily Mail was to simply dismiss that the UK's population would increase to this level rather than consider what such a rise would mean for the British economy.
In fact an increase in population can be highly beneficial to the UK economy. Whether you are a house builder, landlord of properties, retailer, restauranter, private school or for that matter in any business, a larger consumer market means a greater opportunity to sell products and services.
This is one of the main reasons that global business is looking at China and India as a place to set up. Forward looking businesses are looking at opportunities in India and China because of the size of their population. These are big consumer markets to go after and which make up one third collectively of the world's population.
Indeed, one of the principal reasons why China and India have not been affected by the global economic downturn is because their domestic markets are so large that they are not dependant on having to sell their goods and services abroad.
The UK needs an immigration policy that ensures that the UK population grows increases in response to demographic changes. There is an aging population in the UK and in the next 10 years 50% of the UK population will be of retirement age or over. The fastest growing age group in the UK is the over eighties who will soon make up 25% of the UK's population.
These demographic changes do not sit comfortably with the UK being competitive in a global economic market. We need to attract the best talent to the UK and ensure that our strategies and policies are in place now. There is a global war on talent and we are in competition with other aging economies including the USA and Western European countries.
The UK government needs to give careful consideration to not restricting British businesses from being able to attract the best talent from abroad. Many of these businesses are now finding it difficult to recruit from within the resident domestic market and are having to rely on finding skilled workers from abroad in order to remain competitive. British business should be allowed to continue, in line with market forces, to be able to look for the best talent from abroad if this is not readily available in the UK. This problem for British business is going to become more apparent as the population ages.
The UK will be better served in stealing the march on attracting the best talent, investors, entrepreneurs and business to the UK and should market itself as the place to be. If we do not do this now we will regret this in 10 years time. There are only a certain number of businesses in the UK whose target consumer market is the over 50s!
London, Nottingham, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and Leicester are successful global cities because of the ethnic diversity in the cities, because of the coming together of different ideas and conversely different businesses attracting larger consumer markets. For Gordon Brown to imply that the only benefit from immigration to the UK economy, is that it is easier for us to find a plumber, is offends those who have come to this country and contributed to this country's success in every way possible, from education to business to politics.
To imply that the immigrant community do not accept the responsibilities or the rights that come with living here is equally offensive and without any statistical or evidential basis. Lawlessness, and a failure to make a contribution to our society are social problems found in large pockets of the UK where there are no migrant communities.
This debate, however, should not be about dividing the people of Great Britain but rather bringing people together, in order to contribute to our shared success in their own way. Speeches and statements of the type delivered by Gordon Brown are often picked up by foreign media, who understandably report such comments in a negative light and portray the UK as a place which does not want to do business with the outside world.
I have met Chinese and Indian nationals who have echoed such concerns with the consequence that they have looked to other counties such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada and USA to set up in business. We, as a nation in the midst of a recession, cannot afford to lose such opportunities.
As the election comes closer, the immigration debate will become more heated and if polls are correct immigration policy will be either number 1, 2 or 3 on the electorates' mind when deciding where to cast their vote. It is therefore extremely important that those who are able to do so, through experience, address the negative messaging being led by the right wing tabloids.
It is critical to the future of the British economy to give the electorate a proper, accurate and balanced position of the benefits of immigration to the UK (http://www. paragonlaw. co. uk). The government and opposition are failing to do this in fear of losing votes. This failure will inevitably have a negative effect on the British economy.
Paragon Law are an international law firm with offices in Shanghai (China), Ludhiana (India), Nottingham and Leeds. The firm is a specialist immigration law practice with over 22 lawyers in the UK, making it the largest firm of immigration solicitors (http://www. paragonlaw. co. uk/index. php/home/welcome_to_paragon_law/) outside of London.
Paragon Law advises advises on business immigration (http://www. paragonlaw. co. uk/index. php/business/setting_up_a_business_in_the_uk/) and corporate immigration (http://www. paragonlaw. co. uk/index. php/business/training/) matters with clients from a broad range of sectors such as pharmaceuticals, retail, oil and food manufacturing. Their client's include International Produce, Boots UK Limited, Vision Express (UK) Limited and Filtrona PLC.
In addition Paragon Law also advises on immigration outbound matters to India and China and works closely with organisations such as the East Midlands Development Agency on inward and outward projects.
Paragon Law also has one of the largest Legal Services Commission contracts for immigration law (http://www. paragonlaw. co. uk) and has been at the forefront of developing and shaping law in the area of asylum and human rights with cases in the House of Lords, Court of Appeal and High Court.
The firm is recognised nationally as a leader in its field by the Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners. Paragon Law is a multiple award winning firm having won national awards for Legal Team of the Year, The Best Small to Medium Sized Firm for Diversity.
Thalej Vasishta is the founder and Managing Director of Paragon Law who has won Nottinghamshire Solicitor of the Year on three occasions and has been a finalist for Entrepreneur of the Year.
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