Immigrant policy 'is stifling tourism'

Paul Waugh|Evening Standard Whitehall Editor

13 April 2012

The Government ' s "inept" immigration policy is letting thousands of foreign workers into Britain while tourists are being denied entry, tour operators declared today.

They said the Home Office's "political" emphasis on inward migration contrasted with the "complicated" visa rules for potentially lucrative holidaymakers.

The British Incoming Tour Operators Association said developing tourist markets such as China, Russia and India were impeded by " confused visa legislation".

Chief executive Stephen Dowd claimed the Home Office was blocking Approved Destination Status for China, and refuses to join the EUbacked Schengen Agreement on free movement.

"Inbound tourism suffers through Home Office lethargy, incompetence and misguided commitment to a political agenda," he said.

The attack came as the Tories claimed most of Tony Blair's action plan to tackle migrant scams was a "rehash" of old initiatives. After last night's immigration summit at No 10, the Prime Minster and Home Secretary David Blunkett unveiled an audit of Whitehall asylum statistics, and measures to tackle student fraud and sham marriages.

But shadow home secretary David Davis said two initiatives on marriages and one on students had already been announced.

An investigation has been launched by the Government into the Evening Standard's revelations that untrained Romanian immigrants have been working as child protection social workers in Britain. Documents revealed the migrant workers, who trained as probation officers, were granted visas despite warnings from Roger Shaw, a management consultant for the Department for International Development.