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Kirkhope Condemns EU Attempt to Take Over UK Immigration Controls
Friday January 14, 2005
New proposals from the European Commission to give competence to the EU over UK immigration policy have been condemned by Timothy Kirkhope, Leader of the Conservatives in the European Parliament and Spokesman on Justice and Civil Liberties. He has demanded that the British Government indicates at an early moment that it will block any such move and refuse to allow any such competence in the UK.
"Immigration to the UK is a matter solely for the UK. Giving up our controls and our discretion over who is to be allowed into the UK should be totally unacceptable to us.
"The Labour Government must resist the attempt by the EU to introduce uniformity and control over one of the most basic of our national responsibilities.
"I, and my colleagues in the European Parliament, will fight this move and we hope that the British Government will join us, but we are far from confident that it will."
ENDS
