Diane Abbott MP, Labour’s Shadow Home
Secretary welcomed
the Government’s commissioning of a report on the role of EU nationals in the UK economy and society and said:
“There is
far too much heat and not enough light about immigration, so any truly
objective and well-informed analysis must be welcome.
"We
already know that immigrants, both EU and non-EU, make a huge contribution to
the economy and to wider society. They occupy both high-skilled, high-wage jobs
and lower-skilled, lower paid ones, adding value across a wide range of
economic sectors. They help make the UK more internationally competitive, and
sectors with staff shortages, such as the NHS, social care and agriculture,
would be in serious difficulty without them.
"The report should be published. There
must be no repeat of the buried Home Office reports into international
students, or the Saudi funding of terrorism. And there should be no attempt to
reform the immigration system until the report has been published and
debated.”
Ends
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