Excellent idea

[xoggoth]

Re your first possibility.

If the businesses that need cheaper migrants are marginal businesses that only survive by using them, what happens to these workers if they fail?

We have seen the answer to that question before, in Lancashire and the West Midlands in particular, when the potteries and textiles industries brought in many migrants to support them in what (in hindsight anyway) was a totally doomed effort to survive. Now we have a lot of people on benefits or doing fairly low paid jobs.

The government should be asking searching questions about the businesses as well as the workers and looking at the entitlements to bring in families or stay on after a job is finished.

[original PM]

The real question is

1) Do these companies need cheap immigrant workers to avoid closing?

or

2) Do they need cheap immigrant workers so costs can be kept down and shareholders can increase their dividends?

If the former then we are a bit fooked if the later than lets stop bitching at the government and lets look at the greedy shortsighted twunts whose sole interest is their own back pockets. Our 'Captains' of industry need to take a bit more responsiblity for the long term growth of the UK.

Been said before

[Paddy]

In 20 years time when the baby boomers are all retiring you'll be very appreciative of the migrants and the Uk will actively encourage them as I guess there will not be enough workers in most of the 3rd world to support the cost of the ever growing number of healthy retired elderly v's the small number of 1970's - 1990's generation who will be required via high inflation and taxes in order to support them..

At Paddy’s BTL houses on both sides of said BTL are full of Polish, all of them unemployed and on housing benefit. How is that helping? Indian subcontinent emigrants have already brought in their extended families including grandmothers, great-grandmothers aunts etc. All whom are being supported by the state. How is that helping? If HMG kept their fecking hands of my money and not spend it on social engineering then I would not need help in my later years. I have always leaned toward liberalism and left wing politics but Labour has F&cked up badly and I’ll vote BNP if I get the chance. Not because I like the party, but because the other parties are so far remote from the real on the ground problems of immigration.

[xoggoth]

Nice idea in principle Chef but I suggest you check out UK National Statistics data on unemployment, welfare, recourse to social housing, prison population and long term health issues before seriously proposing that migrants are going to pick up the bill for our pensions. Some are an asset sure, but there are also major groups who are simply adding enormously to the future problems.

[DimPrawn]

The UK is addicted to mass immigration.

Yes, we need all these non-English speaking people who'll spend their lives on benefits to "look after us when we're old".

[TimberWolf]

Adam Landy, an associate at law firm Stevens & Bolton, said the scheme "would be to the detriment of the smaller employers who may have just as much business need to bring a migrant worker to the UK as their larger counterparts, yet do not have the disposable cash to bid against them for the right to do so".

want cheap people too

The UK is addicted to mass immigration.

[AtW]

AtW in "makes sense" shock horror!

How would you feel about reverse auction on your rates?

[DimPrawn]

No, there is a fixed fairly small fee (even though it increased 10 times in the last 10 years), and there is no cap (well there is temporary one until Apr 2011).

Auction of work permits every month using monthly quota seems sensible solution.

AtW in "makes sense" shock horror!

[AtW]

I thought that's how it works now.

No, there is a fixed fairly small fee (even though it increased 10 times in the last 10 years), and there is no cap (well there is temporary one until Apr 2011).

Auction of work permits every month using monthly quota seems sensible solution.

[Alf W]

Migrant work visas may go up for sale - Telegraph

Big Co wants to bring in millions of Indian IT workers on low pay? Fine, the visas are up for auction, highest bidder wins.

Kerrrchingg!

I thought that's how it works now.

[chef]

Yeah, right.

In that case, lets import 10bn of them and live the good life.

ok, a few simple questions then:

was there a baby boom period in the 1950's?
are people worldwide now having less children than the 1950's and this decline is ongoing?
are people living longer life expectancies?

so, to take it to it's logical conclusion, if there are a higher proportionate retired people and fewer children then how do you suppose the system will pay for the services these baby boomers from the 50's will require? even if you scrap the NHS people being alive cost and if there is an unbalance of income then the money has to come from somewhere?

plus, these retired aren't going to support themselves, therefore migrants will be welcomed to provide an income stream to the country and provide the services the elderly retire.

I believe that's a fairly logical description of my point, do you have anything to counter it other than ?

[MarillionFan]

Yeah, right.

In that case, lets import 10bn of them and live the good life.

[DimPrawn]

In 20 years time when the baby boomers are all retiring you'll be very appreciative of the migrants and the Uk will actively encourage them as I guess there will not be enough workers in most of the 3rd world to support the cost of the ever growing number of healthy retired elderly v's the small number of 1970's - 1990's generation who will be required via high inflation and taxes in order to support them..

Yeah, right.

In that case, lets import 10bn of them and live the good life.

[chef]

In 20 years time when the baby boomers are all retiring you'll be very appreciative of the migrants and the Uk will actively encourage them as I guess there will not be enough workers in most of the 3rd world to support the cost of the ever growing number of healthy retired elderly v's the small number of 1970's - 1990's generation who will be required via high inflation and taxes in order to support them..

[DimPrawn]

Migrant work visas may go up for sale - Telegraph

Big Co wants to bring in millions of Indian IT workers on low pay? Fine, the visas are up for auction, highest bidder wins.

Kerrrchingg!