The coalition government is to rethink its immigration cap.
The policy of putting an arbitrary ceiling on immigration numbers, a flagship Conservative policy ridiculed by the Lib Dems during the election campaign, is to be reviewed amid fears that it could damage the economy.
The home secretary, Theresa May, will consult with businesses next week about the policy, as business leaders express concerns that the Tories adopted the approach purely to make themselves appear tough on immigration without any consideration given to the needs of businesses.
A Home Office spokesman denied, however, that the consultation represented a U-turn: "It's not news that we will have a consultation before an annual limit is set,” he said. “The home secretary will announce details shortly.
Given doubts among senior Tories and strong ideological opposition from the Liberal Democrats, the Tories may well decide to preserve Labour’s system in its present form
"We want to attract the brightest and the best to the UK but the government is listening to the concerns of the general public who would like to see levels of immigration reduced."
Education secretary Michael Gove and universities secretary David Willetts are rumoured to be among a number of cabinet ministers to have expressed misgivings about the policy.
Whether David Cameron would be willing to drop a policy widely popular with the electorate is unclear. Earlier this week the immigration minister, Damian Green, repeated the Conservatives’ election promise to reduce immigration to "tens of thousands rather than hundreds of thousands" and promised to impose a "limit on work permits".
Net migration to the UK was 142,000 in the year to September 2009, down from 160,000 in the previous 12 months. Labour proclaimed the fall a vindication of its points-based system, which was based on the Australian model, but the Tories attributed it to the global downturn. Nevertheless, given doubts among senior Tories and strong ideological opposition from the Liberal Democrats, the Tories may well decide to preserve Labour’s system in its present form.
