Open up Britain to more Commonwealth migrants, says Mayor of London
London (November 2) At a time of mounting anger in working class areas about the number of European Union immigrants in this country, the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has called on the government to throw open the UK's border to migrants from certain Commonwealth countries.
He particularly wants to see more young people coming in from four leading countries which are members of the 53 nations "club" - Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa.
Johnson has just published a biography of Sir Winston Churchill and by calling for more immigrants from countries which were the backbone of the Commonwealth before the "Uhuru" wave hit the world in the late 1950s and 1960s, is seen to be promoting Churchill's lifelong admiration for what he called "the English-speaking peoples."
Johnson has written a foreword to a report prepared by Commonwealth Exchange, a policy foundation that promotes trade, that demands action to boost the number of new arrivals from these countries - three of which are considered predominately "white" countries by Club members.
The report, which will be published November 3, says that ignoring the Commonwealth is damaging the UK economy because highly skilled people who share Britain's cultural heritage are kept out of the country, while low-skilled migrants from the EU are coming in.