'But the Home Office will not alter its Highly Skilled Migrants Programme'

This is incorrect the Home Office has altered the HSMP. Previously if you were a doctor you could pretty mush show your qualifications and you received the visa straight aware. They have now removed this 'doctor' option and to get the visa now they have to meet the same requirements as all other applicants.

Emma, London,

hi
Immigration has become the hottest word nowdays but it has different issues
1. being part of eu and not putting restrictions on the numbers we have 800,000 people undercutting the locals here.
after all the English from here are also allowed to go to Poland to work but no one will for obvious reasons.
2. not having border controls: truckload of illegals with no checks on them
3. non integration of the asian communities and still allowing them to get their family here through marriage who again dont speak english and on top of that allowing them the benefits.

in the end the only people the labour or tories will be able to stop are the one's who come on work permits to the country, these people are not allowed to claim any benefits, pay the same tax as others, cannot stay in this country if they dont work, are educated, speak english. it will be made difficult for these people to come in and then the government will claim to the normal people that they are controlling immigration.

tarun, birmingham,

John Smith, in fact until recently a lot of doctors and nurses could in fact walk in to the UK providing they were suitably qualified without any need for their employer to prove they could not fill the job locally. This is becuase of a little technically called a shortage occupations list which means the visa is a rubber stamp excercise providing profession registration has been achieved.

Jon Hatswell, Woking, UK

I never thought I would say this as I sound like some deranged conspiracy theorist - but I do now believe that this Government is intent on destroying every sign of that land once known as 'England'.

H, London,

Our politicians are not listening, I'm not a BNP supporter but I think thats the only way to shake the rascals up, maybe then they will listen to "real life people" facing the stress every day.

Titus, Romford,

The questions of economics as they pertain to immigrants in the U.K. will surley change as what makes the U.K. united in the first place. Just wait until YOU are expected to learn and speak their language as we in the U.S. are expected to do.It seems there are two things immigrants, legal as well as illegal set out to do on arriving ,is to head off to the local welfare office, then set about living as if they never left where they came from. Challenge the notion? Your called that vile word of the left - Racist! Don't think that Britain can loose its indentity its happening here in the U.S..

Larry Cline, Ft Lauderdale, Florida

Statistics are being used disingenuously to disguise the true impact of mass immigration. Whenever the old establishment parties refer to immigration they emphasise the'net' numbers entering Britain as if this was the extent of the challenge. But of course this figure is achieved by subtracting emigrants (and most of them are native Britons) from those arriving. The number of immigrants is not reduced by the number of emigrants - in fact the impact of the arrival of so many foreigners is underlined by so many of our own people leaving. Similarly, popluation growth from immgration is put at 70 per cent of the total. But average family size for native Britons includes fewer than 2 children - thus the remaining 30 per cent of growth has to come from immigrants that are already here having large families. With the departure of so many Britons and the huge expansion of ethnic 'minorities' , we - i.e. the English - will be the foreigners in our own country before this century's end.

david lovibond, Devizes, England

The (deliberate?) confusion over immigration numbers is the essence of the political answer - to make listeners think they've heard something definite, whereas they've actually heard something hedged around with qualifications and ambiguities, which at some later period can be denied. Blair's famous claim that missiles could be launched 'within 45 minutes' to justify the invasion of Iraq is a prime example. You heard him say it, I heard him say it, parliament heard him say it, but did he say it? Of course he didn't!

Colin Jordan, Chiswick, London

Although it might be painful for the people in that 'warphole' of tremenderous change. But gosh...with a population of 70 millions in only 20 years from now... France and Germany will be left behind (Germany shrinks, yet propagates again the Nazi-view of inferior foreign guestsworkers, and France wasn't created to do anything except being beaten). Think about it. ;-)

Thorsten, Edinburgh,

Clive S, you'll be amazed to learn that you can't just walk into the UK from Bangalore and take a job. You need a work visa; if you're being paid as a doctor by a government body, you're hardly likely to get a job without a work visa; and it's a requirement for a work visa, everywhere I've been, that the job can't be filled by locals.

I'll leave you with your uninformed naivety, it clearly makes it easier for you to believe you're always right.

John Smith, Groningen, Netherlands

I did a survey and found out that there were over 5 million here and that figure is optimistic and could well be much much higher.

D Case, Newquay,

England has been totally betrayed by New Labour, that is the simple truth of it. My country has been wrecked. How on earth did they win the last election? Thinking of emigrating myself, since I am sick of what has happened to England and I want to get out before I self combust in a fit of righteous indignation.

Richard, Worcester, England

How hard is it to count foreign workers? Give them an NI number with a specific identifier or short term expiry date and then add up all those NI numbers with the identifier and hey presto you have your number.

Al, Newcastle,

I don't want to live in a green and pleasant land. I want to live in a crowded traffic ridden island with over crowded hospitals and schools surrounded by housing estates and religious madmen. This is how Labour sees the problem, I just want all immigration stopped now but then I'm a simple fellow.

Frederick, London , UK

Medical students don't cost the NHS £250k each. The taxpayer picks up the tab. The NHS couldn't care less where its juniors come from which is the problem. If I was an Indian consultant in a regional hospital with hire and fire powers what would stop me recruiting from the old alma mater in Bangalore?

Clive S , E Sussex,

This government advocates multiculturalism but does not have to live with the consequences as we do.

Richard Brady, wallington, uk

Labour politicians hold traditional English life and culture in unprecedented contempt. Culture is transmitted through family and social groupings, not political institutions which are originally a manifestation of the former.

But whatever Labour does it will hardly matter since the lunatic EU bureaucrats are planning to bring in 20 million immigrants from Asia and Africa, who after five years, will be able to move freely through the EU. Given that continental EU countries impose covert restrictions on foreign workers (you won't find any Polish policeman in Germany) we all know where most of these will end up.

Francis Tuttle, Madrid,

Whilst immigrants at the moment are doing the jobs that are not being taken by our own unemployed and are driving down wages as a result, what happens when they cotton on to the fact that in a lot of cases they can live a reasonable life on benefits with perhaps a bit of work in the black economy for good measure.

pat, blackpool,

The Government has an anti-English policy.
What better way to destroy a culture than by swamping it with others?

Martin, Reading, UK

Barnett Formula and Scotland is the main cause of this problem.

Scotland needs to talk up it's population to get a large share of Barnett.
Englands population is talked down to enable Scotland to keep it's fake share.

Example Scotland claims to be 9% of UK, yet produces only 7% of new undergraduates.

JAMES, Dundee,