“At his press conference on 10 November, the Prime Minister claimed that the Goverment’s Points Based System “has made a huge difference” to immigration.
However, our study of the system reveals very serious weaknesses. We think that it has eliminated the professional judgement of Immigration Officers in favour of a complex box ticking process which is wide open to fraud. (see Briefing Paper 3.9)
“Furthermore, the Government’s own assessment is that it would only have reduced immigration by 20,000 if it had been operating throughout 2008. A reduction of at least 100,000 a year is needed if the population of the UK is to be kept below 70 million.”
