Secretary of State for the Home Department

This author's articles

• Controlling our borders : Making migration work for Britain

  18 February 2005
  This five year plan for our immigration and asylum system is based on three sound principles. It shows how we are going to enforce strict controls to root out abuse. It will ensure Britain continues to benefit from people from abroad who work hard and add to our prosperity. And, importantly, it puts forward solutions to a difficult issue which are clear, workable and in the best interests of this country. I believe it will meet both the public’s concerns and our nation’s needs. There is no doubt that concerns over immigration have increased in recent years. But immigration, of course, is neither new nor unique to Britain. Our country’s history and success would be very different without the enterprise and energy of people who, over centuries, have come to settle here. We would be poorer in every way without them. Tony Blair