Illegal migrants' right to work wins support of public in poll

You see them in the car parks of Tesco's. They are collecting litter. Doing the jobs that other Brits don't want to do.

John Reid caused a storm when earlier this month he referred to them as, "foreigners [who] come to this country illegitimately and steal our benefits." This is, of course, a nonsense. He is confusing asylum seekers with illegal immigrants. An illegal immigrant cannot claim benefits for the simple reason that, were he to do so, his illegality would be exposed and he would be deported.

However, a recent opinion poll commissioned by Strangers into Citizens shows that the British public has a much more humane attitude towards immigrants, even illegal ones, than the political debate by the all three parties in this country would lead one to believe.

An opinion poll commissioned by Strangers into Citizens - a campaign to give employment rights to illegal immigrants -shows that 66 per cent of people in the UK would accept refused asylum-seekers and those who had overstayed their visas if they worked and paid taxes. The poll was conducted last weekend by ORB with a sample of 1,004 adults across the UK.

"This poll makes clear that just talking tough will not be enough to fob off the UK public on immigration," said Habib Rahman, chief executive of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants. "They want the political parties to get real and respond in a way that is workable and fair to migrants who are living as members of our society."

"Strangers into Citizens" is calling for the Government to allow a pathway for long-term illegal workers in this country to earn a living legally. They will hold a rally at Trafalgar Square on Monday 7 May to call for all immigrants who have been in this country for four years to be allowed a work permit for two years. It would become a route to "leave to remain" indefinitely while they work and pay taxes.

The campaign challenges the Home Office policy of stepping up the removal of illegal immigrants, who have either overstayed their visas or been refused asylum.

I think this is a fascinating statistic as it shows that the general public have the ability to rise above the very narrow level of discourse allowed on this subject by both Labour and the Tories, who are both attempting to outwit each other with how tough they can be in order to win over the readers of the Daily Mail.

The general public actually have a more keenly aware sense of fairness than the men and women seeking their votes, and it would appear that they are able to transcend the political noise surrounding this subject and come up with answers that are more complex than those being proposed by their political leadership.

Austin Ivereigh, the co-ordinator of the campaign, said: "We are not calling for a general 'amnesty' but a six-year pathway to citizenship for long-term migrants. It is certainly not issuing a 'green light for unprecedented migration'."

He said one-off naturalisation programmes had been introduced in Spain, Germany and the US as part of a wider strategy of border enforcement. "It may not stop illegal immigration - that is a matter for border controls - but they do bring thousands out of limbo, recognise realities, clear asylum logjams, bring huge benefits to the state and shrink the underground economy on which people-trafficking and exploitative employers thrive," said Mr Ivereigh.

I think the best phrase used by Ivereigh is "recognise realities". For the truth is, were our political classes to achieve their supposed goals of removing all illegal immigrants, the country would come to a shuddering halt. For these are the people doing the jobs that most Brits simply don't want to do.

And thank God that London has had the good sense to elect a Mayor who is not afraid to speak out on supposedly controversial subjects like this and reject the government's tired party line.

Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, said: "Migrants contribute hugely to the economic, civic and cultural life of London and the UK. To have a substantial number of them living here without regular status - because of deep-rooted failings in the immigration system - is deeply damaging to London as well as to them."

The British public do not agree with Reid or Cameron on this subject. They have no difficulty with failed asylum seekers or people who have overstayed their visas if only the system would change in order to allow these people to properly contribute taxes to the country in which they now live.

The British sense of fairness is spoken of so often that the term is actually a cliche, however, it's satisfying to notice that - on this subject on which the political classes are in complete agreement - that sense of fairness has taken the British public in the totally opposite direction.

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Tags: immigration, illegal immigrants, asylum seekers, John Reid, Strangers into Citizens