Speaking in the House of Commons, Charles Walker calls for a debate on the consequences of unskilled immigration to the UK.

Mr. Charles Walker (Broxbourne) (Con): May we have an urgent debate on the consequences of unskilled immigration to the UK? While such immigration may benefit the middle and upper-middle classes, because those immigrants tend to work in restaurants or to clean offices and homes, that level of immigration is not so good for the less well off in our society, who end up competing with the newly arrived for scarce resources such as housing, education, health and jobs. That is creating some unnecessary and unwanted friction in our communities-I suspect not just in my community, but in the community of Blackburn, which is represented by the Leader of the House.

Mr. Straw: I am always happy to see these issues debated. Contrary to myth, there is a high degree of control over immigration into this country, especially in respect of low-skilled workers who have no family connections here. The hon. Gentleman knows that, but he would know more if he talked to fruit farmers in Herefordshire, Kent and many other areas, and not just to people in what he describes as more prosperous areas. I could take him to a factory in my constituency that would not be operating without low-skilled workers from eastern Europe, because the owners could not recruit others to do those jobs. That is a reality, and we have to choose between maintaining employment at its current levels with all the protections, including the minimum wage, that we introduced and he voted against-[Hon. Members: "He was not here.