British business leaders have warned that the Conservative party’s plans to impose an annual cap on the number of immigrants coming to Britain would upset the Indians and Chinese.
The Conservative party’s election manifesto released yesterday contained a pledge to issue an annual cap on migrants, besides a promise to impose bonds for students from India and other non-European Union countries, besides other measures to control immigration. London First, an influential business membership organisation, the mission of which is to make London the best business city in the world, warned that the Conservative plans threatened Britain’s position as a global commercial hub, where several Indian companies have set up offices.
London First’s chief executive, crossbench peer Baroness Jo Valentine, accused the party of making the proposals to ‘appease the populist voice and warned it would put off Britain’s trading allies. She said: “How we build our links with the Far East and the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) economies is absolutely fundamental to London’s future.”
