Tory immigration plans typically callous

Is it any wonder that MPs are attacking Javid`s post-Brexit immigration plans (Morning Star, 19/12/18)? Not only have they been delayed an extraordinary amount of time, they are, as Diane Abbott says, failing at every conceivable level, and reveal once again how completely out of touch Tory leaders are with the outside world, and reality. They fail "to meet the needs of employers for a stable, skilled workforce", but more importantly they fail to meet the needs of a society suffering massively from the consequences of a callous, unnecessary and deeply damaging decade of austerity polices.

     Allowing in skilled workers with a five year visa will depend on a guaranteed salary of £30,000, over £3000 more than the current national average earnings; it means no entry for those with the much-needed skills for such work as caring, nursing and teaching. In Tory eyes, such people do not bring in trade and business from abroad, do not warrant bonuses, and are of little value to the British economy; low-skilled and low-paid! Since when have earnings in this country have anything to do with skill levels?

So much for solving the teacher recruitment crisis when a newly-qualified teacher can be paid as little as £23,720. Even doctors in their first year of training in hospital earn under that figure! Unsurprisingly, the £30000 amount is apparently being put out for public consultation, presumably so that people actually with a clue, will be able to suggest something sensible.

  Of course, the much sought-after so-called "unskilled" workers can be allowed in, but only for one year, with few rights, no access to benefits, and minus dependant family members. Such stringent rules are presumably to appease those so against free movement of workers, and keen to "take back control of our borders"; however, they provide no answer to the crises in health, caring and agriculture. What makes matters worse is that the Tories clearly have learned nothing from the recent post-Windrush scandals, and are still treating immigrants as numbers to be fed into computers and graphs, with no regard for dignity and self-respect.