Labour manifesto says border controls need strengthening, low-skilled migration needs to come down

The Labour Party today released its manifesto ahead of next month's election. The full manifesto can be read here and the section on immigration can be read below.

The manifesto says that a Labour government would strengthen Britain's borders and seek to prevent the exploitation of migrant workers. "Low-skilled migration has been too high and needs to come down," the manifesto states.

Labour's tougher new approach on immigration saw a controversial 'Controls on immigration' party merchandise mug hit the headlines last month.

According to Channel 4 News, Ed Balls pledged to buy one, while MP Diane Abbott called the mug an "embarrassment". MP Sadiq Khan said of the mug: "I think it can be misconstrued and what's important is that we are quite clear what we mean by our policies."

In its manifesto, Labour also pledged to end the indefinite detention of people in the asylum and immigration system.

We'll publish the immigration section of the Conservative's manifesto when it is released tomorrow.

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The Labour Party Manifesto 2015

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Controlling immigration with fair rules

For our country to stay strong, with the confidence to look outwards rather than inwards, people need to feel secure in the strength of our borders, our communities, and in the workplace.

Britain has seen historically high levels of immigration in recent years, including low-skilled migration, which has given rise to public anxiety about its effects on wages, on our public services, and on our shared way of life.

Despite the Conservatives' promise to reduce net migration to tens of thousands, it is now higher than it was when David Cameron entered Downing Street. Broken promises erode trust.

Labour will never cut Britain off from the rest of the world. Our economy and our society benefit from the talent and investment of people who come here, including university students coming to study. But the system needs to be controlled and managed so that it is fair. Low-skilled migration has been too high and needs to come down. We need much stronger action to stop illegal immigration.

Labour's plan starts with stronger borders. We will recruit an additional 1,000 borders staff, paid for by a small charge on non-visa visitors to the UK. We will introduce stronger controls to prevent those who have committed serious crimes coming to Britain, and to deport those who commit crimes while they are here. We will introduce full exit checks, so that we can count people in and out of the country. Short-term student visitor visas have dramatically increased, so we will tighten the system to prevent abuse, whilst welcoming overseas university students who bring billions into Britain. And we will keep the cap on workers from outside the EU.

We need fair rules at work to prevent the exploitation of migrant workers, which undercuts local wages and increases demand for further low-skilled migration. Labour will introduce a new law to stop employers undercutting wages by exploiting workers. We will ban recruitment agencies from hiring only from overseas and crack down on rogue agencies by extending the remit of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority where there is evidence of abuse.

We need to strengthen our social integration and ensure that migrants can play their part in British society. People working in public services, in public facing roles, will be required to speak English. Those who come here will not be able to claim benefits for at least two years, and we will stop child benefit being sent to families living abroad.

We will enforce immigration rules humanely and effectively. We will end the indefinite detention of people in the asylum and immigration system, ending detention for pregnant women and those who have been the victims of sexual abuse or trafficking. And we will ensure Britain continues its proud history of providing refuge for those fleeing persecution by upholding our international obligations, including working with the UN to support vulnerable refugees from Syria.