07:13 EST, 28 March 2014
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07:15 EST, 28 March 2014
Tough immigration policies have made Britain ‘nasty’, George Osborne’s father-in-law warned today.
Lord Howell, a former foreign office minister, said rules and regulations on who can enter the country were creating a ‘blot’ on the UK’s reputation.
Visa restrictions are damaging Britain's standing on the world stage and must be urgently overhauled, he warned.
The Tories have taken an increasingly tough stance on immigration, in part to counter the rise of the UK Independence Party.
It has included moves to cut net migration to the tens of thousands and a crackdown on migrants claiming benefits.
But Lord Howell of Guildford said the issue requires ‘very careful handling’ and warned the government: ‘We are not getting it right.’
The 78-year-old Tory peer served in Margaret Thatcher;s Cabinet and when the coalition was formed became a foreign minister for two and a half years. His daughter, Frances, is married to Mr Osborne, the Chancellor.
He now chairs a Lords committee on Soft Power, which today published a report warning British diplomacy is stuck in the last century and risks leaving the UK ‘outwitted, out-competed, and increasingly insecure’.
Peers warn that domestic policies can damage attempts to forge relationships and highlight how almost every expert that appeared before them warned that the Coalition's visa reforms were ‘harming the assets that build the UK's soft power’.
They call for students to be removed from net migration targets and a change in tone from the government in the way it speaks about immigration.
Lord Howell told BBC Radio 4's Today that a string of witnesses to the committee had suggested visa and immigration policies were ‘creating a nasty Britain feeling’.
Business people were being put off coming to the UK by a ‘tangle of regulation’ and many students were almost in ‘despair’ at the restrictions imposed on them.
‘This country has got to be open for business, our leaders say that all the time,’ he said.
‘Being open for business means we've got to welcome the right people, including a lot of students and brilliant skilled people who add to our power in the world and we've got to keep out those obviously who would do bad things to Britain and damage us.
‘This requires very careful handling. We are not getting it right.
‘All our witnesses who came before us - and we had 24 hearings and a vast amount of written evidence - said the visa policy and some of the handling of immigration policy was creating rather a blot, creating a nasty Britain feeling when in fact we've got all these fantastic assets which, if we handle them right and tell the story right, can promote a very positive image for Britain, increase our trade, enable us to export more, invest more.
‘Clearly this aspect needs clearing up. Everyone agrees that.’
He said: ‘Many business people who want to move into Britain to develop and strengthen our economy are finding it very difficult to get through the tangle of regulations.
‘And I think many students, particularly from some of the Commonwealth countries, are finding it really almost a matter of despair trying to get in and, when they have finished, wondering whether they have to go home and all that sort of thing.’