1. FURY AT PLAN FOR MIGRANTS TO BE MADE UK CITIZENS

Interesting how the trade unions are supporting a plan that will bring huge damage to British workers.

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/2503

A CONTROVERSIAL campaign to allow Britain’s estimated 560,000 illegal immigrants to become citizens of the UK came under fire last night. The Strangers into Citizens scheme proposes to offer two-year work permits to illegal immigrants and failed asylum seekers, who had been in the UK for four years, had no criminal record and could speak English. After the two years, they would be assessed on employer and community references and could gain the right to live and work in the UK permanently. But last night opponents ­dismissed the idea as “crazy”. Sir Andrew Green, chairman of MigrationWatch UK, said it would simply give the green light to those seeking to come to Britain illegally. He said: “This is a crazy idea. Illegal immigrants are not innocents abroad, they have been undercutting British workers and enabling unscrupulous employers to compete unfairly with honest employers. “To legalise them would cost billions and would simply encourage many more to follow in their footsteps.”

We seek to remove anyone who is here without the legal right The Home Office Shadow Immigration Minister, Damian Green, said: “Granting an amnesty is never a one-off. Spain and Italy have had to have multiple amnesties which inevitably have led to more illegal immigration and more people-trafficking in the long-term.” But Strangers into Citizens, an alliance of civic institutions, faith and community groups that has the backing of trade unions, claimed the scheme would be good for the economy and help fill vital skills shortages. Campaigner Austen Ivereigh said it would cost billions of pounds and would take decades to remove the half-a-million illegal immigrants. He said: “It is time to bring the law into sync with reality and the reality is that this country needs migrant workers.

We have a successful economy and that attracts workers from around the world.” “Migrants do not cross the world in order to become ­citizens,” he said. “This scheme would require them to be here for six whole years before they were granted citizenship. “We are talking about dealing with the 500,000 people who are already here, and are working without rights and without ­paying taxes.” Jack Dromey, deputy secretary general of the Transport and General Workers’ Union, said: “The time has come for fresh thinking on migration, one that sets aside the blanket persecution of undocumented workers.” Last night, a Home Office spokesman ruled out an “earned amnesty” for illegal immigrants. He said: “We seek to remove anyone who is here without the legal right.”

2. EUROPEAN UNION "BLUE CARD" WORK PERMIT GATHERING STEAM

One of the arguments most used and abused to justify mass immigration -- that immigrants are needed to offset the negative effects of low birth rates and ageing population -- is both flimsy and absurd. Immigrants will get old like anyone else and so, in one or two generations, this problem will reappear again. Maybe it's not a coincidence that the Turner Commission, the body appointed by the Government to analyse and offer solutions to improve the UK pension system, in its final report it offered many recommendations but increasing immigration was not one of them. What is more absurd is that this scheme is being pushed even when, in many European countries, unemployment is high, especially among young people.

http://www.workpermit.com/news/2007_03_20/europe/european_union_blue_card_01.htm

First discussed in 2005, the idea of an EU-wide employment permit seems to be gaining a foothold. The European Union may put forth a newly dubbed "Blue Card" scheme inspired by the U.S. Green Card program. Its aim is to attract top talent to the European Union to combat the aging population and declining birth rate problems. The card will allow migrants to travel and work in any country within the European Union, rather than deal with the all the different visa and work permit requirements of each member nation. The card also allows workers to bring along their immediate family. Franco Frattini, European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom, and Security, stated in a recent speech to the London School of Economics that it is essential for the EU to "become a real magnet for highly skilled immigrants." He plans to put for a formal proposal for the scheme in September 2007.

The EU currently trails behind the United States and Canada in attracting overseas talent, both of which have vigorous recruiting policies. The hope is that the Blue Card, named after the color of the European Union flag, will make the 27 member bloc more economically competitive. The European Union clearly requires immigration and migration to maintain and build its economy. The recent enlargement brought the total population to approximately 490 million, with the number of people living in the EU expected to decline in the coming decades. By 2050, one-third will be over 65 years of age. A critical need for skilled workers in many Member States, including the United Kingdom and Germany in particular, is already evident in a number of sectors. This demand will grow as 20 million workers will leave the workforce between now and 2050. Immigration alone is not seen as the solution to ageing populations. Higher net immigration will not exempt European policy-makers from the need implement structural and other changes to solve the impact of ageing populations.

All westernized nations are currently facing this problem and attempting to develop a comprehensive set of actions for a coordinated solution. However, increased immigration is seen as key toward mitigating the problem in the immediate future. Canada, Australia and New Zealand are countries that have in recent years been developing creative solutions along these lines. They have been learning from each other, including such countries as Ireland and the United Kingdom, with countries such as Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong following their leads.

3. EASTERN EUROPEAN INFLUX 'HAS LED TO A MASSIVE RISE IN NHS ABORTION'

Another story vindicates our claim that Eastern European influx, far from bringing huge benefits to the UK economy, is putting public services under strain and native Britons are the ones who are penalized most.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.html?in_article_id=444649&in_page_id=1774

An influx of eastern European immigration has led to a massive rise in pregnancies and abortion requests in some areas according to reports. The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) said it believes there has been an increase in the number of eastern European women seeking abortions across the UK. It said the NHS and government ministers need to apply resources to meet population needs. According to the BBC, in one GP practice in Luton in Bedfordshire, 400 new patients register every month - and 80 per cent are eastern European. The reports come as The National Childbirth Trust warned valuable support for pregnant women is being cut because of the NHS's financial troubles, a healthcare charity has warned. The NCT says it is receiving "increasing reports" that NHS antenatal classes, breast-feeding services and post-natal visits are being cancelled. The charity expressed concern that these "short-term measures" to ease health service deficits would have a negative effect on new parents. NHS antenatal classes have been cut or "temporarily suspended" in at least 10 areas in England and Wales, according to the NCT. These are Romsey in Hampshire, Worcestershire, Newham in London, Watford, Gwent in south Wales, south west Kent, Nottinghamshire, Gloucestershire, Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire, and Wiltshire.

The NCT said it also understood that postnatal home visits have been stopped or are facing cuts in Wiltshire and in east and north Hertfordshire. This would mean new mothers having to travel to a clinic in order to receive after-birth care. An NCT spokeswoman said: "These cuts in maternity services may reflect a more widespread pattern. "The NCT is concerned that these short-term measures to ease financial deficits are having a negative effect on new parents and parents-to-be, preventing them from getting the information and support they need at this important stage in their lives." The Department of Health (DoH) said it expected local NHS trusts to follow guidelines set down in the Children's National Service Framework (NSF) and by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). The NSF, which was published in September 2004, says good antenatal care will include access to parenting education and preparation for birth "as classes or through other means". A DoH spokesman said: "The soon-to-be-published maternity strategy will set out how we will achieve services that provide real choice and support for women in all settings, from antenatal care through to the early child years."

4. SCANDAL OF ILLEGAL FOREIGN DRIVERS

Apart the economic aspect related to the costs incurred by British motorists who are victim of accidents, there is a much more distressing fact that must be considered. Many of those illegal foreign drivers caused accidents that left victims dead or severely injured and the fact that a better control of our border would prevent them from happening can only make the suffering of victim's relatives much more difficult to bear.

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/2748

MINISTERS have no idea how many foreign drivers are on Britain’s roads illegally. Motorists from outside the European Union are supposed to take a British test and get a licence after living here for a year. But Transport Minister Stephen Ladyman has admitted in a Commons written answer that the percentage of new arrivals who apply for a British licence is “not known”. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency added: “We do not know how many people are driving illegally in this country, foreign or not.” The admissions came as the Motor Insurers’ Bureau revealed a dramatic increase in the number of claims involving foreign cars. It recorded a four-fold increase in claims involving EU-registered vehicles between 1997 and 2006. And since 2001 there has been a 768 per cent increase in claims involving Polish vehicles – reflecting ease of access to Britain since Poland joined the EU in 2004. The RAC’s Edmund King said: “These figures show that we do not have a clue as to the extent of the problem. But insurers’ records, and calls we take, indicate that it is a growing problem. “We are getting more calls from motorists worried about erratic driving involving cars with foreign plates.” The statistics highlight the growing motoring “under class” on Britain’s roads. There are thought to be about two million uninsured or unlicensed drivers.

5. GREENSPAN: LET MORE SKILLED IMMIGRANTS IN

It has always been clear that the real reason business groups are pushing to allow more immigrants is because they want cheap manpower.

http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2007/03/14/greenspan_let_more_skilled_immigrants_in

Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said allowing more skilled immigrants to work in the United States would help keep the income gap from widening. Inequality of incomes is the "critical area where capitalist systems are most vulnerable," Greenspan said yesterday in Washington at a conference on maintaining the competitiveness of US capital markets convened by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. "You cannot have a system that we have unless the people who participate in it believe it is just." Allowing more skilled workers into the country would bring down the salaries of top earners in the United States, easing tensions over the mounting wage gap, Greenspan said. "Our skilled wages are higher than anywhere in the world," he said. "If we open up a significant window for skilled workers, that would suppress the skilled-wage level and end the concentration of income." Income inequality has risen in the past three decades. Kathleen Newland, director of the Migration Policy Institute, a Washington think tank, said she was skeptical of Greenspan's proposal. "In theory, increased skilled immigration should help contain wage rises at higher levels, but there is little empirical evidence," she said. "If you want to reduce political concern, it would be better to deal with the problem by helping to raise the wages of the lowest earners, by helping to improve productivity and raising the minimum wage."

6. FIRMS WARNED TO DEVELOP DIVERSITY POLICIES AFTER MICROSOFT DITCHES SUPPLIER

This is not surprising given that Bill Gates, Microsoft's owner ,is actively lobbying the US Congress to allow an unlimited number of foreign IT graduates, even if in the USA there are a lot of unemployed IT workers. At least there is a proof of the role played by multinational corporations in the destruction of British identity and the damage on British workers, both caused by the mass immigration they actively promote.

http://www.personneltoday.com/Articles/2007/03/20/39766/firms-warned-to-develop-diversity-policies-after-microsoft-ditches.html

Employers have again been warned to tighten their diversity practices after it emerged that Microsoft UK stopped using a supplier due to its poor policy on the issue. Dave Gartenberg, HR director at Microsoft UK, told Personnel Today that the global IT firm was increasingly looking at its suppliers' diversity policies. "In one case, we changed provider because they were cavalier towards the topic," he said. "They were supplying a perfectly good service, but we stopped using them." Microsoft's UK arm is learning from its experiences in the US, where many private companies insist on good diversity policies from their suppliers. "We just think it is the responsible thing to do," Gartenberg said. The decision follows moves by Barclays last year to request diversity statistics from its legal advisers as part of its corporate social responsibility policy. The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) confirmed that private firms were now increasingly insisting on good diversity practices from their suppliers.

CIPS director of marketing Brian Ford told Personnel Today: "It is a growing trend for suppliers to be asked for their diversity policies. We have seen this grow over the past few months and we can't see that changing. It would be sensible for employers to put policies in place so they can't be caught out." The Institute of Business Ethics (IBE) agreed that private firms were increasingly looking at the make-up of the companies they do business with. Simon Webley, research director at the IBE, said: "More than 200 of the FTSE 350 companies now have codes of ethics. These include core values of the company, and diversity is beginning to appear on these plans." The Equalities Review last month recommended that a company's diversity policies should be a key factor when awarding public service contracts. But business groups have long insisted that contracts should be awarded on value for money, rather than diversity policies.

7. FAMED THAI HOSPITALITY SHOWS SIGNS OF STRAIN

Asian nationalism has always been of great interest for us, there is a lot we can learn from them.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/03/20/news/thai.php

Long one of the most open and accommodating destinations for tourists and businesspeople in Asia, the well-advertised 'land of smiles' is showing signs of a subtle frown directed toward foreigners. Over the past seven months, successive Thai governments have passed measures scrutinizing land purchases by non-Thais and clamping down on long-stay retirees and expatriate workers who lack proper visas. In January, the cabinet passed a sweeping bill that tightens restrictions on foreign companies, a measure that awaits final approval. 'There's been a trend that suggests rising economic nationalism,' said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a professor of political science at Chulalongkorn University.

Thailand, he said, has fallen into a 'very complex mood of ambivalence' toward outsiders under the military-led government that seized power last September. That mood is evident in a 12th-floor conference room at the headquarters of Bangkok Bank, where Vongthip Chumpani, an adviser and former vice president at the bank, expresses her frustrations about certain types of foreigners who come to Thailand — and tend to stay. 'We are getting a lot of weird retirees here,' Vongthip said. 'They can't survive in your country so they come here.' Thailand needs to slow down and catch its breath, she said. Thaksin Shinawatra, the prime minister ousted in September, had entered into a flurry of free-trade agreements with Australia, China, Japan, the United States and others. To Vongthip's thinking, he tried to pry the country open too quickly. 'We bent over backward all the time to accommodate foreign investors,' she said. That could be changing. Under proposed new rules for foreign investors, companies such as Federal Express might have to give up control of their operations in Thailand. Car and electronics manufacturers could be barred from delivering their cars or disk drives to ports for export; only Thai-owned companies would be allowed to transport items within the country. Retail chains — big ones like Carrefour and hundreds of smaller ones — could be frozen out of future expansion. Land purchases by thousands of foreigners could be declared illegal.

These amendments to the Foreign Business Act were approved by the Thai cabinet in January and are now under review by the Council of State, an independent government body of legal experts. Since the very first boatloads of Portuguese and Dutch emissaries arrived here five centuries ago, Thailand has had a knack for dealing with foreigners: trade but not domination, hospitality but not subservience. Thais successfully gleaned technology from Europeans, Americans and Japanese, and the elite sent their children to study abroad. Unlike all of its neighbors, Thailand was never colonized. But this was before millions of tourists poured into the country's spas, beaches, golf courses and restaurants — not to mention red-light districts and massage parlors. The number of tourists visiting Thailand, whose population is 64 million, is expected to reach nearly 15 million this year, a doubling over the past decade.

On the southern resort island of Phuket, roadside billboards, written in English, advertise million-dollar condominiums — this in a country where a schoolteacher is lucky to bring home a few hundred dollars a month. In northeastern Thailand, men from Germany, Switzerland, Britain and other Western countries live with their Thai wives on neatly groomed streets that stand out from ramshackle neighboring villages. 'I've seen so many old farangs with young Thai women,' said Nattaya Rattanamanee, 31, an accountant working at a hotel on the resort island of Samui, using the Thai word for Westerners. 'These old farangs damage the reputation of Thailand; they turn Thailand into a land of prostitutes.' Feeling the strain of the tourist influx, the Thai government recently announced a new approach: the country would no longer focus on the quantity of tourists, but instead target 'quality' — read 'wealthy' — tourists. 'In years past we've always targeted numbers: trying to achieve the highest numbers of arrivals possible,' said Chattan Kunjara Na Ayudhya, a spokesman for the Tourism Authority of Thailand. 'It's time to change. If we continue to focus mainly on numbers, some destinations will not be able to handle that many people.' Any resentment that Thais may harbor toward foreigners is unlikely to be felt by short-term vacationers. It is hidden behind an often genuine Thai smile and shielded by a wall of politeness.

There is no generalized backlash against foreigners, Thais say, but rather concerns about specific problems: criminals who come to Thailand on the lam, the increase in land purchases by foreigners and foreign companies having too much influence in the economy. In September, just before the coup, the head of the country's immigration department announced that foreign tourists would be limited to staying in Thailand for 90 days within any six- month period. This was primarily aimed at foreign retirees who take up permanent residence without proper paperwork and the thousands of people working here without work visas. One such person was John Mark Karr, the American who falsely confessed to the 1996 killing of JonBenet Ramsey, a Colorado schoolgirl, and was living in Bangkok as an English teacher. Karr's apprehension last August in Bangkok buttressed Thailand's image as a magnet for creeps and perverts. 'I hate them. There are so many of those in Thailand,' said Yupa Boontaworn, a 22-year-old university student, when asked about people like Karr. Tourism is good for the Thai economy, she said, but the government should move more aggressively against pedophiles and sex tourists. As a tourist destination, Thailand shares much in common with the Netherlands: a hands-off government and the veneer of a tolerant society, but a surprisingly conservative core. In some ways, anti-foreign feelings in Thailand arise from the clash between the permissive Thailand of skimpily clad bar girls twirling around poles and the more traditional side of the country, where women are too shy even to wear a swimsuit on a beach. Today, that veneer of tolerance, while still intact, is chipping. 'Foreigners shouldn't be able to do anything they please in Thailand,' said Samree Ardsuan, 68, a retired civil servant. If someone led a demonstration protesting foreign ownership of companies, Samree said, he would definitely join in.

With a few exceptions such as condominiums and small plots, foreigners are barred from owning property in Thailand. But many have skirted these laws by registering shell companies, a practice that the government now promises to stop. The mood toward foreigners today, analysts say, is a corollary to Thailand's political crisis. Many Thais became defensive when foreign governments criticized the coup in September as undemocratic, and today there are occasional nationalist outbursts. In February, the head of the military junta, Sonthi Boonyaratglin, vowed to retake stakes in a satellite company that Thaksin's family sold to a Singapore government agency last year. The Thai government says the proposed amendments to the Foreign Business Act are long overdue clarifications. But to some Thais, including Vongthip of Bangkok Bank, the law would also help redress what is seen here as the injustices that accompanied the financial crisis of the late 1990s, when indebted Thai companies were forced to sell their assets cheaply to foreigners.

Foreign banks and companies, Vongthip said, 'picked up everything for a song.' Many questions about the amendments remain. Analysts say there could be less pressure for a new law since one of the more nationalist members of the Thai cabinet, Pridiyathorn Devakula, stepped down as finance minister in February. The legal committee also appears to be casting a skeptical eye on the proposed new law. 'The majority of the committee is not sure that the law needs to be amended,' Pakorn Nilprapan, the committee's secretary, said this month. 'We are seeking explanations from the Ministry of Commerce.' Even if the amendments do become law, many here predict that the law's harshest provisions will be quietly forgotten. 'I don't think it's going to be enforced — it's just not the Thai way,' said David Lyman, chairman of Tilleke & Gibbons, a prominent Bangkok law firm. Lyman, who first moved to Thailand in 1949, says he has seen this all before: the government has threatened to restrict foreign ownership on and off for nearly four decades. 'Reason usually ends up prevailing in Thailand — after all other options have been exhausted,' Lyman said.

Recommended reading:

Overcrowded Britain by Ashley Mote MEP -
http://www.bnp.org.uk/shopping/excalibur/item.php?id=691

Do we need mass immigration? by Anthony Brown -
http://www.bnp.org.uk/shopping/excalibur/item.php?id=106

Tomorrow is another country: What is wrong with the UK’s asylum policy? -
http://www.bnp.org.uk/shopping/excalibur/item.php?id=253