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Move to abolish visas opposed

LONDON: A move to abolish “ancestry” Commonwealth visas as part of the proposed shake-up of Britain’s immigration rules has sparked a controversy with critics accusing the government of showing “contempt” for Britain’s historic association with Commonwealth countries. Labour party leaders have supported calls for a review of the proposal and there is a move to table a motion in the Commons to put pressure on the government.

Under the “ancestry” visa scheme, citizens of certain Commonwealth countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, have an automatic right to live and work here if they have an ancestral link to Britain — for example if their grandparents were born in the U.K.

A Green Paper on proposed changes to the immigration rules, unveiled by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith earlier this week, said: “We need to decide whether a Commonwealth national’s ancestral connections to the UK are sufficient to allow them to come here to work without the need to satisfy a resident labour market test.”

Labour MP Austin Mitchell described it as a “betrayal” of Commonwealth principles.

“We should have serious doubts about the judgment of Ministers and officials who are willing to stir up feelings of bitterness and betrayal that will be provoked by their unthinking lack of concern for historic ties that so many of us value, ” he said.

There has also been criticism of plans to impose a tax on new migrants for using public services, and to deny them full access to benefits until they are granted full citizenship.

Migrants groups denounced it as “punitive” taxation pointing out that immigrants already paid for public services through national insurance contribution and income tax. If the proposal goes through, it is likely to be challenged in court on grounds of being “discriminatory.”

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