An e-petition is calling for the government to take even more stringent action on UK immigration by substantially cutting the number of people permitted to move to Britain.
Overseen by think tank Migration Watch UK, the petition has a focus on lowering immigration in order to keep the overall population down, a topical issue as last week the Office for National Statistics revealed that the country's population is on course to reach 70 million within 16 years.
Sir Andrew Green, chairman on the think tank, remarked that the Labour government has been largely to blame for recent immigration levels.
“Labour permitted foreign immigration of over three million in the face of strongly opposed public opinion,” he stated. “Politicians need reminding that this is an issue that is consistently one of the top concerns of voters and that it must be addressed, and soon.”
However, the petition requires a minimum of 100,000 signatures if parliament are to debate the issue and consider amendments to policies. Considering the fact that one recent piece of research found that public opinion is rather divided on UK immigration, it is not certain that the Migration Watch UK petition will achieve its required signatures.
They study from the Oxford University Migration Observatory found that just 32 per cent of Brits are opposed to skilled migrants coming to this country on UK work permits. However, 64 per cent were not content to allow unskilled migrant workers in to the country and asylum seekers received even more disapproval, despite the fact that they only accounted for four per cent of immigrants in 2009.