Labour's policy on economic migration may well become one of its most lasting legacies. Labour has introduced a number of measures to facilitate the entry of migrant workers, particularly from 2001, that have comprehensively changed policy and marked a decisive break with the previous policy model.

The birth of the managed migration system

Economic migration is often referred to under the umbrella term ‘managed migration’, which was popularised by David Blunkett, who used the phrase 11 times in Parliament when he was Home Secretary. The extent of the changes to economic migration policy is not, however, easily read across from primary legislation. This has much to do with the structure of immigration law and regulation. As discussed in the introduction, the 1971 Immigration Act gave the Home Secretary extensive and flexible rule-making powers regarding immigration regulations. Indeed, so regular are these changes, that many are not even press-released by the Home Office. More importantly, there are categories (such as au pairs or investors) within the Immigration Rules but most (such as work permit holders) ‘defer’ to a separately administered scheme (Trott, 2005, p 506). This broad distinction means that the majority of migrant workers enter under schemes based on easily amended guidance notes.

The exact date when a new, more pro-active economic migration policy was introduced is difficult to judge. However, the benefit of hindsight suggests that late 2000 and early 2001 was a crucial period. This is probably best shown by the absence of policy proposals prior to this time. For example, the 1998 White Paper only mentions economic migrants in reference to the abuse of the asylum system and exploitation.

A major government review of international migration and its impact on the economy was carried out in 2000. The review was prompted by thinking on the competitiveness of the UK economy, particularly by the Treasury and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the early signs of which can be seen in the White Paper Our competitive future: Building the knowledge driven economy (DTI, 1998), which questioned whether there was room to lower barriers for skilled professionals and entrepreneurs.