UK minister draws flak for his comments on immigration

Work and Pensions Secretary, Mr. Duncan Smith said, “Government is doing its bit to control immigration by placing an overall limit on the number of non-European Union workers allowed into the country each year, but that British businesses also needed to help.”

He also encouraged the government to hire locals into the business and not just depend on the foreign labor.

But according to the EU law, it is not legitimate to discriminate workers on the grounds of their background.

Smith, in his most disputed statement said, “Coming out of the last economic down turn in the early 1990s, employers looked abroad as they struggled to fill jobs at home and have yet to get out of the habit.”

David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, criticising the statement of Duncan, said, “Highly skilled foreign workers are important to our economy, and it is vital that they are allowed to enter the country so businesses can hire the workers they need.”

Unemployment an issue
The unemployment rate in UK at present is 7.7 percent. Most of the unemployed youths are within the age group 16 to 24 years.

Although steps have been taken by the government to raise the unemployment rate, like internship and apprenticeships, all have gone in vain.

Almost 87 percent of the 400,000 new jobs created during the coalition government's first year were filled by immigrants from outside Britain.

One of the main reasons might be that the people in Britain lack the basic skills like reading, writing, and communication. These skills play quite an important role in work.