By Peter Dominiczak, Political Editor 21 May 2015
Radical new plan unveiled by the Prime Minister will also see illegal migrant workers deported without appeal
David Cameron will unveil radical new plan to tackle illegal migrant workers Photo: Lynne Cameron/PA Wire
Foreign workers will have their wages seized by police and face deportation without appeal if they are in the UK illegally, David Cameron will announce today as part of a “radical” crackdown on immigration.
The Prime Minister will vow to make the UK a “less attractive place to come and work” by using next week’s Queen’s Speech to announce a series of laws to “root out illegal immigrants and bolster deportations”.
Mr Cameron will also unveil plans to make it a criminal offence for businesses to recruit abroad without advertising in the UK first.
He will give councils powers to evict migrants and force all banks to check bank accounts against databases of people who could be in the country illegally.
It comes as official statistics are today expected to show that net migration is still far higher than the Government’s target of reducing it to fewer than 100,000 every year.
Mr Cameron will on Friday officially begin renegotiating Britain’s relationship with the European Union at a major summit in Riga.
Immigration will form a key plank of Mr Cameron's demands as he attempts to negotiate changes to EU laws to ensure that he can further restrict migrants’ access to benefits in the UK.
On Wednesday a close ally of Mr Cameron gave the strongest hint yet that the EU referendum could take place in 2016.
David Lidington, the Europe minister, became the most senior member of the Government to openly suggest that Mr Cameron now wants to hold an in-out referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU earlier than his previous 2017 deadline.
A would-be illegal immigrant sneaks into the cab of a lorry at Calais port (AFP)
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And there was a further boost for the Prime Minister as Wolfgang Schäuble, Germany’s finance minister, said that there is a “a big margin of manoeuvre” for the treaty changes that Mr Cameron needs to drive through significant reforms in the EU.
Mr Cameron will use a speech in central London today to signal that he will put restricting migration at the heart of his second term in office.
It has been estimated that there could be as many as 600,000 illegal immigrants living in the UK.
As well as the new criminal offence of “illegal working” allowing the authorities to seize wages, Mr Cameron will also extend the “deport first, appeal later” scheme to all immigrants thought to be in the UK illegally.
Currently it applies only to foreign criminals. It will mean that thousands of illegal migrants could now be deported and forced to appeal in their country of origin.
The Prime Minister will announce satellite tracking tags for foreign criminals awaiting deportation “so we always know exactly where they are”.
Mr Cameron will say that “dealing with those who shouldn’t be here… starts with making Britain a less attractive place to come and work illegally”.
“The truth is it has been too easy to work illegally and employ illegal workers here,” the Prime Minister will say.
“So we’ll take a radical step – we’ll make illegal working a criminal offence in its own right.
“That means wages paid to illegal migrants will be seized as proceeds of crime and businesses will be told when their workers’ visas expire so if you’re involved in illegal working – employer or employee – you’re breaking the law.”
Mr Cameron will say that a “strong country isn’t one that pulls up the drawbridge…it is one that controls immigration”.
He will add: “With this Immigration Bill, and our wider action, we will put an end to houses packed full of illegal workers; stop illegal migrants stalling deportation; give British people the skills to do the jobs Britain needs. We are for working people. For them, we will control and reduce immigration.”
As part of his renegotiation with Brussels, Mr Cameron wants to have the right to make European migrants wait four years before receiving welfare or council houses and he wants to stop EU workers sending child benefits and tax credits abroad.
Would be illegal immigrants to the UK attempt to storm a convoy of lorries heading to the French port of Calais (AFP)
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Mr Cameron went into the general election promising to reform Britain’s relationship with Brussels before holding the referendum before the end of 2017.
However, Mr Lidington on Wednesday suggested that the Prime Minister would “welcome” the chance to hold the vote earlier.
Mr Lidington said: “There will be tough and difficult negotiations but I think there is growing recognition around the continent that Europe cannot go on the way it has been going.”
Asked about the prospect of an early referendum, Mr Lidington added: “David Cameron has said the deadline is 2017 but if we can do it earlier we would welcome that.”
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Mr Schäuble indicated that Germany is now prepared to work with Mr Cameron for EU reform.
Asked about the possibility of treaty change, which many Brussels leaders have previously said Mr Cameron will be unable to achieve, Mr Schäuble said: “We will try to move in this direction, possibly through agreements that would later be incorporated into treaty changes. There is a big margin of manoeuvre.”
In a significant concession, Mr Schäuble also suggested linking the Conservative Government’s demands for change to reform of the Eurozone.
He said that George Osborne, the Chancellor, will be “coming to Berlin so that we can think together about how we can combine the British position with the urgent need for a strengthened governance of the Eurozone”.
He added: “The structure of this currency union will stay fragile as long as its governance isn’t substantially reinforced. Maybe there is a chance to combine both goals.”
His comments raise the prospect of a two-speed EU, with countries not in the Eurozone having a far looser relationship with Brussels.
Illegal migrant workers will have wages seized, vows David Cameron - Telegraph
