UKIP rejects idea of amnesty for illegal immigrants

A call for the government to grant an amnesty for more than 500,000 illegal immigrants has been firmly rejected by UKIP.

Local MEP Paul Nuttall said that Tory MP Nadhim Zahawi has made the call purely in order to make the Conservative Party more appealing to the immigrant vote.

"In order to try to win over minority voters he wants to legitimise half a million illegal immigrants, so giving them full access to all welfare benefits.

"Well UKIP does not support such a move. Amnesties do not work. If people are found to be living here illegally they should be removed. Amnesties send out the message that Britain is a soft touch, which encourages more people to come.

"To introduce one to shore up failing poll ratings for the Conservative party would be to sacrifice the interests of the country to narrow sectional political considerations.

"To my mind it shows that the Conservatives cannot be trusted on immigration any more than the Labour Party can," said Mr Nuttall, UKIP Deputy Leader.

"Illegal immigrants should be dealt with on an individual basis and not under a blanket amnesty.

"International experience of migration amnesties shows they encourage more inward migration. Spain had six amnesties in 20 years. In that time, the number of illegal immigrants applying under the schemes rose from 44,000 to 700,000 - a 15-fold increase.

"Claims that the UK would be immune from this as it is an island are laughable. Let's face it, if that were so there wouldn't be at least 500,000 illegal immigrants here in the first place"