Theresa May slams cost of 'too high' migration at Tory conference

AFP/Getty Images
Ramzy Alwakeel6 October 2015

High levels of migration to the UK will make it “impossible to build a cohesive society” and force low-paid workers out of a job, the Home Secretary will today claim.

Theresa May is expected to tell the Tory party conference in Manchester that there are “millions” of people in poorer countries who want to come to Britain.

But, she will say, there is “a limit to the amount of immigration any country can and should take”.

She will tell delegates: “While we must fulfil our moral duty to help people in desperate need, we must also have an immigration system that allows us to control who comes to our country.

“Because when immigration is too high, when the pace of change is too fast, it’s impossible to build a cohesive society. It’s difficult for schools and hospitals and core infrastructure like housing and transport to cope.

“And we know that for people in low-paid jobs, wages are forced down even further while some people are forced out of work altogether.

“But even if we could manage all the consequences of mass immigration, Britain does not need net migration in the hundreds of thousands every year.”

The Conservative Party conference began on Sunday. Yesterday disability activists pelted Mayor of London Boris Johnson with toy balls of varying sizes as he entered the Manchester Central venue.

Tens of thousands of anti-austerity protesters marched through the streets as the conference opened.

Additional reporting by Press Association

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