Tories urge 'firm immigration plan'

Shadow immigration minister Damian Green said a "firm immigration policy" was necessary to enable local authorities to provide services for people arriving in the country.

Tory leader David Cameron said that immigration into Britain had been "too high" and called for "tough and rigorous" action to control the numbers coming in.

Mr Green, speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, said recent waves of immigration had put public services under strain. He said: "Local authorities in various parts of the country have pointed out the difficulties.

"For instance, in Slough, they found themselves suddenly having to find school places for large numbers of children who they didn't know were there, who couldn't speak English. That puts a huge strain on particular social services.

"Inevitably many of the incoming communities do cluster together, it's a natural thing to do, and therefore if that's unplanned and unexpected then it's very difficult for the local authorities to cope.

"So actually having a firm immigration policy is a way of contributing to better community cohesion in this country."

Mr Cameron used an appearance on the BBC's Newsnight to call for tighter immigration controls. He said: "I think the levels of migration we see in the early part of the decade of this Government, when the asylum numbers were very high, and the later part of the decade, when immigration settlement numbers were very high... I think we have put too great a burden on public services and I think it needs to be better controlled."

Mr Green denied the Tories' recent emphasis on classic right-wing issues such as crime, Europe and immigration was a plan to woo their traditional supporters. He said: "In no way is this a move back to a core vote strategy. When you look at what David Cameron has been talking about over the past few weeks, he has talked about health, he has talked about crime, he has talked about social breakdown. He was asked a straight question about immigration policy last night and he gave a straight answer."

Mr Green added: "What's happened over a long period is that all mainstream politicians have been very sensitive to the fact that, if you deal with issues like immigration, you have to deal with them in a moderate and sensitive tone. But I also believe very strongly that it is an issue that mainstream democratic politicians need to address because otherwise it leaves the floor clear for extremists, particularly on the far right."