The Liberal Democrats are not wrong in referring to Home Secretary John Reid as "impersonating Alf Garnett". The attack follows an announcement by Reid on March 7 that a clampdown has been launched targeting "foreigners [who] come to this country illegitimately and steal our benefits"
The package of measures will include compulsory ID cards for non-EU nationals, and strengthening the powers of the immigration service. There is also to be a pilot scheme to send text messages to people reminding them not to overstay their visas!
More sinister, there will be pilots in three NHS trusts using data from the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) to ensure that migrants who do not have the "right" to free care have to pay before receiving it. Workers in the NHS will be required to act as an arm of the immigration service
Nor are they the only group of workers who will be asked to act in that way.
Other measures include:
• the creation of immigration crime partnerships between IND, local authorities, police, HM Revenue and Customs and local agencies to detect those here illegally and block benefits;
• regional partnerships with workplace enforcement teams from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Department of Trade and Industry, to track down and punish unscrupulous bosses who exploit the system;
• joint work with local authorities to use fines of up to E20,000 against private sector landlords to tackle overcrowding - which builds on new search powers for IND through the UK Borders Bill;
• the creation of a watch list of illegal migrants that can be provided to other Government departments and agencies to deny access to services;
• reviewing how the driver licensing system can be used
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Alphonsus Uche Okafor-Mefor A message from Alphonsus Okafor Mefor -