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See other news storiesHome Sec talks to GMTV
23 April 2007
John Reid talked candidly about dealing with the challenges of terrorism and immigration.
As part of a wide-ranging interview on Sunday morning, the Home Secretary talked to GMTV's Gloria de Piero about the challenges posed by terrorism and immigration, and about how the 're-focused' Home Office aims to deal with them.
GMTV: Tell us about the re-focused Home Office and the new Office for Security and Counter-terrorism.
John Reid: The re-focus of the Home Office takes effect from the 9th of May, and after that we will be concentrating all of our efforts on crime, managing migration and immigration, and countering terrorism.
We've already started, in fact - I had my first meeting this week [with the new security committee], bringing together ministers and officials on the counter-terrorist board.
GMTV: What about immigration? How high a priority is it for the Home Office at this time?
John Reid: If you asked ten years ago what people were concerned about, top of the poll came unemployment and the economy, behind that came the health service. Ask people now what their greatest concerns are, and item one is immigration, item two is crime and item three is terrorism and the general threat to the country.
So that's why we've re-focused, and that's why I have said - and my ministers have said - that people want to see immigration managed effectively and fairly.
Take the benefits of immigration - it brings a lot of skills to this country, it helps our economy, and therefore there are huge opportunities. But people need to know that we are enforcing our borders, that we are going to make it more difficult for people to come here illegally, that they'll have to have visas with their fingerprints on them.
And we’re going to establish something called the Migration Advisory Commission that will publicly tell people what we think the level of immigration should be. That will take into account not just the economic benefits, but also the costs, for instance, to our public services.
GMTV: Does that mean that you believe that there is an optimum level for Britain’s population size?
John Reid: Well it's not so much an optimum size for the population, because of course that depends on your economy. If your economy is growing it may mean, not only that you can absorb people from outside, but that you may need people. You may need people with particular skills, and with particular qualifications.
Therefore, one of the things we're doing is bringing in a points-based system, so that the more you're qualified and skilled for particular areas, and the more of those skills and qualifications are needed in this country, the more points you will get, and the more readily you will qualify for entry into the country.
That means that we will have a system that people will see as being managed and fair.
Most people aren't opposed to foreigners, they're opposed to unfairness. What they worry about is people coming here illegally, and people working here illegally undermining the minimum wage.
My view has always been quite simple on these issues: we must not be frightened to debate big issues like immigration. If we aren't prepared to make sure that we have a fair, managed and effective control of immigration, others will exploit that.
When people say they're worried about the level of immigration, or whether laws have been enforced properly, or about illegal immigrants coming here, our first reaction shouldn't be to say, 'You have no right to worry about that'. It should be to say, 'OK, if you've got concerns, we will address those issues'.
GMTV: Do you still believe ID cards are a crucial tool?
John Reid: We cannot effectively control immigration, track who's coming into the country, who's leaving the country; we cannot counter fraud, where people are trying to steal your money from your bank account, or steal your other assets; and we cannot counter terrorism unless we have a good, effective system of identity.
Identity will, as history's moving on with technology, become more and more important. Your most precious asset at the moment is your house, or your car, or your bank account. Increasingly your most precious asset will be your identity. Why? Because when you want to go and take money out of a bank you need a card, when you fly you need a card as a frequent flier, when you go to a supermarket people want to know who you are and what you want to buy. This is a way of life.
People carry these cards all the time, and they are the access to everything that you regard as precious - from your money, through your home, to your identity. Other people will try to steal that identity. We’ve had a 77% increase recently in identity fraud.
The whole idea behind identity management is to make sure that we can control immigration effectively, we can counter terrorism, and we can counter the crooks who want to steal your identity.
More information
Find out more about the issues Dr Reid discussed on GMTV:
