Britain has suffered under 13 years of a Labour instigated 'open-door' immigration policy, which has seen rampant abuse of the system, much needed jobs going to foreigners, a huge strain on the welfare state and NHS and has resulted in the UK being viewed as a soft touch for would-be migrants. Illegal and legal. I previously spent 4 years working in British Embassies overseas as an Entry Clearance Officer, with responsibility for deciding who can or cannot enter the UK. I have therefore witnessed at first hand just how bad the system is and how easy it is to abuse and circumvent. Even when immigration offenders are caught, enforcement officers in the UK have little power to detain and deport them and they are usually freed back into society on condition they report to local police stations each week, whereas in reality they simply abscond again. Mr Cameron has promised reform of the immigration system, but so far the measures taken have been weak and done nothing to tackle the bigger issues. Reducing Tier 5 immigrants is just the tip of the iceberg and not addressing the big problems. Student immigration is out of control and the most abused category of visa, along with bogus marriage settlement visas and even visit visas issued to persons who use them to work and remain in the UK as long as they wish. The points based system brought in by Labour has failed. Discretion needs to be returned to Entry Clearance Officers working at British missions overseas. Interviewing of applicants MUST be brought back. Britain is almost unique in the world with their ludicrous policy of not interviewing those who wish to enter the UK. In these dangerous times, this is just unacceptable. I therefore strongly urge the Secretary of State for Home Affairs and the Prime Minister to urgently review the antiquated set of Immigration Rules that Entry Clearance and Immigration Officers are forced to content with on a daily basis. Urgent and widespread reform is needed urgently.

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