GREEN MEP for London Jean Lambert has slammed Home Office proposals for a new Immigration Act as inhumane and unworkable.

Commenting on the proposals for landlords and banks to check on the immigration status of their clients, as well as new requirements for some migrants to pay an ‘NHS levy’ outlined in a new immigration Bill introduced to parliament today, Ms Lambert, the Green Party’s Immigration Spokesperson, said:

“This is an inhumane piece of legislation that’s bound not to work.

“Plans to force migrants to pay for health care run completely counter to the universal principles of the NHS – and may well place the UK in breach of EU and other international law too.

“As for requiring banks and landlords to check the immigration status of everyone they deal with – they will place an enormous administrative burden on the financial and housing industries exactly when we need to be supporting them: does the Government really want to turn bank clerks and landlords into unpaid border guards?

“I can appreciate that in the face of this Government’s austerity measures many people are feeling the pinch – especially when it comes to accessing health and housing services.

“But the answer isn’t to introduce new measures to deal with immigration but to invest in our NHS and housebuilding.”