UK Immigration News

Theresa May, the UK's Home Secretary, has told the BBC that it will be difficult to meet the government's target of reducing annual net immigration to below 100,000 by May 2015 but has said that she will continue to strive to do so.

The target stems from a commitment made by the UK's Prime Minister, David Cameron, in 2010 when he was the leader of the opposition before the last election. The government has committed itself to reducing net immigration from its then level of about 250,000 to below 100,000 by the next election in May 2015.

Lord Bilimoria of Chelsea, the founder of the Cobra Beer company, has told a conference that the UK Independence Party (UKIP) is guilty of 'scaremongering' and 'misleading rhetoric' on immigration.

Bilimoria, who is himself an immigrant born in India, was speaking to the online newspaper The Huffington Post after appearing at the State of Small Business Britain conference, organised by the Enterprise Research Centre.

Theo Paphitis, a British entrepreneur and television personality, best known for his role on BBC TV show The Dragon's Den, says that immigration is 'a really important part of what makes [the UK] so brilliant'.

Mr Paphitis, who is an immigrant from Cyprus, also said that claims that immigrants take jobs from UK citizens are 'rubbish'. He said 'There is absolutely clear evidence, published many times, that the people that are signing on the dole can't or won't fill those roles so that's not the case.

Professor Leszek Borysiewicz, the vice chancellor of Cambridge University, has said that the UK's immigration policy is damaging the UK's university sector and also the country in general.

The professor said that the use of a 'crude' numerical immigration target is leading foreign students to believe that the UK is 'not a welcoming place to study in'.

Two high-profile MPs from ethnic minority backgrounds have said that the UK government must tackle voters' fears about immigration. Both MPs are the sons of immigrants.

Sajid Javid, a Conservative MP and minister for culture, and Chukka Umunna, the opposition Labour Party's Shadow Business Secretary, have both said that voters have legitimate fears about immigration.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), the Canadian immigration department, says it will reconsider its decision to refuse visitor visas to ten gay rights campaigners from Uganda. The ten had applied for visas to attend the World Pride human rights conference in Toronto in June. Their visa applications were refused in April.