LORD MANDELSON DEFENDS UK EMPLOYERS WHO HIRE WORKERS FROM ACROSS THE EU
The business secretary told MPs that immigration under free movement of labour laws has not impacted negatively upon the prospects of UK workers, given that many of the roles filled by foreign employees are deemed undesirable by British workers.
He claimed that workers who have moved to the UK from the eight eastern European countries who joined the EU most recently are helping to fill gaps in the labour market.
Lord Mandelson added that immigration had had "no statistically significant impact" on wages, stating that there remain around 500,000 unfilled employment roles across the UK.
"Over nine out of every 10 people in employment are UK nationals. One can only conclude there has not been an adverse effect on the employment of British nationals," he stated.
Earlier this week, the British Chambers of Commerce predicted that unemployment will reach 3.2 million in the UK by the third quarter of 2010.