Clegg targets visa 'overstayers'
Nick Clegg has called for a bail-like system of security bonds to tackle visa abuse today. He will say that bonds would be paid as a cash guarantee from visa applicants who come in from high-risk countries.
Latest ITV News reports
Deputy Prime Minister targets visa 'overstayers'
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has called for a bail-like system of "security bonds" to tackle visa abuse in the UK.
Read the full storyBryant: Security bonds system potentially unfair
Shadow Immigration Minister Chris Bryant has warned that Nick Clegg's proposal to charge some visitors to the UK a security bond to ensure they leave again is potentially unfair.
He said it could discriminate against people who genuinely want to visit for a short period but are too poor to pay the deposit, while "unscrupulous people" who can afford it may be willing to "fork out their one or two thousand pounds" in order to circumvent the system.
Watch: Clegg calls for 'Tolerant Britain, zero-tolerant of abuse'
Advertisement
Is Clegg's interest in immigration related to UKIP's rise?
by Carl Dinnen - Political CorrespondentNick Clegg's first speech on immigration as deputy prime minister comes three weeks after UKIP came second to the Liberal Democrats in the Eastleigh by-election.
I wonder if his sudden interest in immigration is related?
The Liberal Democrats certainly sound as though they are getting a bit tougher on the issue: Mr Clegg announced an end of "amnesties" for illegal immigrants, bigger fines for employers who take on illegal immigrants and a pilot scheme for security bonds.
Clegg calls for 'Tolerant Britain, zero-tolerant of abuse'
Clegg: Penalties on 'unscrupulous' employers to increase
Nick Clegg has said that the coalition will increase the penalties on employers who knowingly employ illegal immigrants:
– deputy prime minister nick cleggI can confirm today that the coalition will increase the cash penalties for unscrupulous employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants because theyre cheaper.
Currently, the maximum fine is £10,000 per illegal worker. I've asked the Home Secretary to look into the right amount, but personally Id like to see it doubled ...
Clegg: Coalition to re-introduce 'exit checks'
Nick Clegg has said the coalition plans to reintroduce 'exit checks' to ensure that visitors who come to Britain for a limited period leave again.
He said that the previous Labour government abolished these.
Advertisement
Clegg: UK cannot succeed by 'pulling up the drawbridge'
Nick Clegg has said that Britain's economic recovery is dependent on immigrants:
– deputy prime minister nick cleggThe majority of people who come here work hard and make a contribution. Many have served - and still serve - in our armed forces.
And if every member of an immigrant community suddenly downed tools, countless businesses and services would suffer.
The NHS would fall over. And in a globalised economy, where talent is as mobile as capital, no nation can succeed by pulling up the drawbridge.
Nick Clegg: Coalition to correct 'mistakes' left by Labour
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has just started a major speech on immigration, in which he will outline how the coalition plans to correct the "mistakes" of the previous Labour government.
He also echoed Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper's warning about avoiding "an arms race of rhetoric on immigration".
Key points from Nick Clegg's immigration speech
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will make a speech today outlining an immigration system that "embodies this nation's instincts and its values". In it, he is expected to:
- Claim to be correcting the mistakes left by Labour government
- Introduce a pilot scheme for security bonds - deposits that can be claimed back when visitors from "high-risk" countries leave
- Promise larger cash fines for employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants
- Call for a crackdown on human trafficking by criminal gangs
- Defend the Coalition decision to exclude students from immigration cap
Labour's 'new approach' to immigration
The Labour party announced earlier this month that it was changing its approach to immigration after
In a party political broadcast, Labour leader Ed Miliband said that "one of the things we didn't get right [when in power] was immigration".