A select committee has slammed PM Tony Blair over the current government's population policy!
The Commons Liaison Committee, headed by Senior MP Tony Wright, has said that not having a proper debate and clear policy on the issue could fuel right wing extremists.
Mr Blair responded by saying that the UK had a migration policy but no 'population policy.' He was also grilled by members claiming that Eastern European migrants were putting a strain on the public services.
This admission by the PM comes at a time when the media has had lots to report about Home Office blunders, failing knife amnesties and brutal murders not to mention the vast array of serious crimes that go unreported.
Despite Blair's excuse that all countries are battling with 'mass migration,' it is quite a disgrace that this government do not have a rough estimate of how many people flood these shores each year.
I am not for one moment suggesting that government's should have exact figures to hand but to simply admit that they have no idea of the figures is scandalous and merely adds to the already chaotic administration under Blair.
So what can be done? The government's proposed I.D card scheme will do little to reassure the public that people who outstay their welcome will be deported back to their country of origin.
The only way for the problem to be dealt with is to have our borders tightly controlled and rigorous security checks implemented - there should also be a computer database which scans peoples passports at border controls and checks to see if they have a social security number, or if they are receiving benefits.
Sensible debate, sensible policies and rational thinking can solve this problem, not wonderland policies or headline vote winning five minute wonders.
Thomas L. Blair is a sociologist and political blogger on the Chronicleworld 'for creative renewal in Black Britain and Afro-Europe'. His work is honoured in the British Library's archive of "social, historic and culturally significant web-based material from the UK domain". He won top prize in the blogging competition on The-Latest.
Sumantra Maitra is a freelance journalist from Mumbai, India. He is a correspondent for All Sports magazine, and a foreign affairs blogger for the Washington Examiner. He has written articles for news website Merinews.com and other regional publications. Sumantra runs a blog at DailyWorldWatch.wordpress.com. He provided exclusive eyewitness reports for The-Latest on the Mumbai bombings of 2008.
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