Christopher Pincher Welcomes 100,000 Signatories to Immigration Debate

Christopher Pincher, Member of Parliament for Tamworth, has welcomed the news that 100,000 people have signed an e-petition calling the Government to take firmer action against immigration.   The Backbench Business Committee will now decide if the petition should be debated in the House of Commons.  The e-petition was tabled by Sir Andrew Green, Head of MigrationWatch UK.  The wording of the debate is as follows:

Over the past ten years the government has permitted mass immigration despite very strong public opposition reflected in numerous opinion polls. We express our deep concern that, according to official figures, the population of the UK is expected to reach 70 million within 20 years with two thirds of the increase due to immigration. While we recognise the benefits that properly controlled immigration could bring to our economy and society, this population increase, which is the equivalent of building seven cities the size of Birmingham, will have a huge impact both on our quality of life and on our public services yet the public has never been consulted. So we call on the government to take all necessary steps to get immigration down to a level that will stabilise our population as close to the present level as possible and, certainly, well below 70 million.

Christopher Pincher commented on this news:

“I am glad that the limit has been reached and I hope that the Backbench Business Committee will allocate Backbench Business time to hold this debate.  Immigration is a very important issue to many residents of our town and it must be debated in Parliament.  I have already spoken in a previous debate about immigration but much has changed since then and I welcome the potential opportunity to speak again.

“The Government has done much to combat immigration after years of Labours ‘open door’ policy by capping the number of immigrants allowed in the country but more needs to be done.  I have recently commended the Government’s actions by cutting the number of colleges that have their students eligible for student visas – mainly were fraudulent and just a route into the country.  I have also asked the Leader of the House for a debate on immigration last week.”

The Cross Party Group on Balanced Migration, Frank Field and Nicholas Soames, of which Chirstopher Pincher is a member, said:

“This is a remarkable response from the public – 100,000 thousand signatures within a week.  It underlines what our Balanced Migration group has been saying for three years – namely that there is pent up frustration at the failure of the political class to get a grip of mass immigration.

We will now take the matter up with the Backbench Business Committee to secure a debate on the petition’s call for a sharp reduction in immigration to levels close to balanced migration. Nothing short of this will stabilise the population.”