Mayoral candidates call for illegal immigration amnesty

A formidable coalition of business leaders, politicians, religious leaders and community workers will pledge their support tonight for an amnesty for illegal immigrants who have been resident in the UK for several years and can pass strict tests to prove their contribution to British society.

Enormous untapped potential and appalling waste is taking place right in front us. Business leaders recognise that the case for an amnesty is both principled and pragmatic. The economic and moral case for liberating this army of workers from the underground economy is irrefutable.

Action being taken to help illegal immigrants

All four of London's main mayoral candidates, including the Tory candidate Boris Johnson, will back the campaign to offer undocumented workers the chance to be integrated into mainstream society and obtain papers allowing them to work and pay taxes legally. They will be joined by an array of influential figures, including Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, leader of the Muslim Council of Britain and Stephen O'Brien, one of the City's leading business leaders.

Pressure to make the offer of a one-off amnesty has intensified in the wake of a campaign by London Citizens, the capital's largest community organisation. At a public assembly in Westminster tonight, more than 2,000 representatives of the City's community groups will demand the next mayor back their campaign. All four candidates, the Labour Mayor Ken Livingstone, the Liberal Democrats' Brian Paddick, the Green Party's Sian Berry and Mr Johnson, will agree.

Illegal immigrants 

The estimated number of illegal workers ranges from 500,000 to 700,000, half of which may be failed asylum-seekers. Approximately two-thirds of these work in London and the South-east, in cleaning, catering, hospitality and construction. As they do not have legal rights, their pay and conditions are subject to abrupt changes.  Critics say granting deserving candidates an amnesty would be ethically and financially sound, with a report by the Institute for Public Policy Research concluding that  illegal immigrants  working legally and paying taxes could yield a windfall of between £1bn and £3.3bn.

Government's tough new immigration controls 

The Government's tough new immigration controls have just suffered an embarrassing setback, with the High Court ruling them illegal and unfair. Judges concluded that the Home Office changes to the Highly Skilled Migrants Programme (HSMP) that could lead to thousands of deportations, amounted to "conspicuous unfairness and an abuse of power". The Government has steadfastly refused to agree to a blanket amnesty, claiming it would lead to a vast increase in the number of immigrants arriving.

For further information on  BITC and migrant workers, please see;