Prime minister David Cameron has outlined his plans to address UK immigration in a recent speech .
Mr Cameron described what he sees as a need to find a balance that facilitates a certain level of immigration as “a good thing”, while preventing the development of overwhelming pressure that can be associated with “excessive immigration”.
He remarked: “Some immigration is a good thing. It is right that we should attract the brightest and the best to Britain. We genuinely need foreign investors and entrepreneurs to come here.
However, he accused a liberal attitude about by Labour policies of building up pressure on the country's schools, housing and healthcare systems, as well as its social structure.
Key issues the prime minister sees as contributing to this pressure are immigrants who are unable to speak the native language, those who do not wish to integrate and those whom he sees as moving to Britain to take advantage of services funded by tax payers, such as the NHS and welfare payments.
Mr Cameron claimed that the coalition government is working to tackle these issues and noted its particular focus on attempting to be “much more selective not just about how many people come in – but who actually comes in” in a bid to target the allocation of UK work permits and visas to those who will create jobs and stimulate economic growth.
The hope is that uniquely talented individuals will still be able to obtain access to the UK, while many less exclusive positions that would have been filled by an individual from abroad with a UK work permit will now be taken up by a previously unemployed member of the British workforce.
Whether or not the UK's education and social system has the means to instil the necessary drive and skills in British workers, remains to be seen.