August 2010 Vol 22, UK and Europe
Nick Clegg sticks to his guns on immigration
Nick Clegg reopened a Coalition rift yesterday by dismissing flagship plans to bring in a cap on immigration.
Nick Clegg reopened a Coalition rift yesterday by dismissing flagship plans to bring in a cap on immigration.
David Cameron has stressed that it is vital to introduce a cap on non-EU immigrants in the 'tens of thousands rather than the hundreds of thousands' to restore public trust.
The proposals were written into the Coalition agreement, but when asked about them yesterday Mr Clegg appeared to claim that they won't solve the problem.
Dismissive: Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has reopened a Coalition rift by playing down flagship plans to bring in a cap on immigration
Referring to plans for a 'sort of upper limit', the Deputy Prime Minister said: 'I don't think there's any magic number.
It is just the latest twist in the crunch debate about the party leaders' favourite snacktime treats.
Mr Clegg joked during a question and answer session that his audience would like to know his favourite biscuit - a reference to earlier this year when Gordon Brown repeatedly failed to respond to the question during a grilling on the Mumsnet website.
But a confident Mr Clegg showed himself up, saying: 'The nation wants to know what's your favourite biscuit.
'If dunked it's HobNobs without a doubt'. He then declared: 'No, sorry, no, no, no, no, no. If dunked, rich tea. I got it wrong. God. Major, major, flaw.'
'It's much more important than that, you've got to make sure that the immigration system has people's confidence, people's trust and that people are coming in for the
right reasons.'
Mr Clegg added: 'People want an immigration system which is fair, which is open and which is generous.'
But he did admit that it would also need to be 'tough on numbers' in order to 'remove immigration as this highly vexed, emotive issue'.
His comments came weeks after Lib Dem Business Secretary Vince Cable caused a row during David Cameron's trip to India by speaking out against the cap, which he believes will hurt trade links.
Mr Cable called for a 'light touch' immigration policy and admitted there is a 'debate' in Cabinet about the cap, which has also angered Indian business leaders who want to send staff to the UK.
'Business is clear we want Britain to be open for business,' he said.
'We want flexibility and we want these regulations when they come in to be administered with a light touch.'
