India’s push on migrants
BRITAIN’S immigration controls will come under renewed pressure from the Indian government in Brussels on Friday.
The EU-India trade summit is expected to concentrate on India’s demands for freer access for its huge IT conglomerates to European markets.
Negotiators will focus on the controversial intra-company visa system, which is used by IT giants such as Tata to send low-cost Indian workers to the UK and avoid immigration caps. Academics believe the practice stops skilled British workers from getting the jobs. Linda Kaucher, from the London School of Economics, said: “We are being irreversibly committed to EU trade agreements that cede sovereignty of our borders to transnational companies bringing in workers.”
A spokesman for the Department for Business said last night that whatever was agreed would have to be “compatible” with the coalition’s migration caps.