Queen’s Speech focuses on immigration reform

(by Laura Smith-Spark, CNN) London — The UK government has put immigration reform and the economy at the heart of its plans for the new parliamentary session, which opened Wednesday (May 8th) with the Queen’s Speech.

The address by Queen Elizabeth II for the ceremonial state opening of Parliament [every May] is written by the government, although read out by the monarch.

At the center of the government’s legislative agenda is a new bill with “tough new measures to continue immigration reform and prevent illegal immigrants accessing services they’re not entitled to,” the Home Office said. [NOTE: The Home Office is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for immigration, security, and law and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service (MI5). It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs, counter-terrorism, and ID cards.]

“The bill will ensure that this country attracts people who will contribute and deters those who will not,” the queen said.

The legislation will also “contain measures to make it harder for people to prevent their removal with spurious [fake] appeals, reduce the complexity of immigration law and make clear that foreign national offenders should be deported, except in extraordinary circumstances,” the Home Office said.

A move to the right on immigration may be a response to the political threat posed by the UK Independence Party, known as UKIP, which has made gains in local elections at the expense of the Conservatives.* UKIP has promised steps to limit the number of migrants entering Britain. [*NOTE: Britain’s Conservative Party is similar to U.S. Republican Party; Britain’s Labour Party holds ideologically socialist views, is most similar to U.S. Democrat Party]

Measures to make deportation easier may also reflect the Home Office’s long-running, and so far unsuccessful, efforts to deport radical Islamist cleric Abu Qatada. A series of legal appeals have kept the Jordanian national in the country. [A resident in the UK since September 1993, Qatada was once described as Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man in Europe. The British government has been trying to deport Qatada to Jordan, where he was convicted of terror charges in his absence in 1999, for nearly eight years.  Last month British Home Secretary Theresa May (similar to U.S. Sect. of Homeland Security) was denied permission by the UK’s Court of Appeal to take the fight to deport Qatada to the Supreme Court.]

Lawmaker Yvette Cooper, of the opposition Labour Party, criticized the measures outlined in the Queen’s Speech, saying they fail to tackle key issues around the exploitation of foreign workers and illegal immigration.

“Immigration is important for Britain and needs to be controlled and managed so it is fair for all,” she said.

Welfare reforms

The government will also work to boost Britain’s economic competitiveness so it can continue to succeed in the world, the Queen’s Speech said.

“To this end, it will support the growth of the private sector and the creation of more jobs and opportunities,” the queen said.

In addition, the government intends to pass new measures to tackle anti-social behavior, cut crime and reform the police.

The legislative agenda also includes more measures to reform the state benefits system, “helping people move from welfare to work,” the speech said.

The government’s sweeping welfare reforms, affecting state help for the disabled and unemployed, have already been controversial in Britain, which is struggling with a large budget deficit.

The Conservatives govern in coalition with the Liberal Democrat Party [social liberal/libertarian]. …..

CNN’s Antonia Mortensen contributed to this report. Reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission from CNN.