BBC panel in stitches as Andrew Neil says 'I won't do a Kay Burley from Sky News'
ANDREW NEIL had BBC panellists in stitches after insisting he would not "do a Kay Burley" impression by reading all questions he wanted to ask Conservatives over their immigration policy.
Andrew Neil says he 'doesn't want to do a Kay Burley'
Andrew Neil appeared to tease fellow broadcaster Kay Burley as he lamented the lack of clarity from the Conservative Party over their new immigration policy. Ms Burley last week sparked a firestorm of online reactions after empty-chairing Tory chair James Cleverly after he allegedly failed to appear on her show to take questions. The BBC veteran presenter had members of the Politics Live panel in chuckles as he discussed the questions he wanted to ask with his reference to his Sky News colleague: "Immigration was one of the things we wanted to speak to the Conservatives about because they are saying that under their plans, immigration will fall.
"The net migration at the moment is 226,000 – most of them, interestingly, now come outside the European Union. But they say it would fall.
"What I would have wanted to know – I don’t want to do a Kay Burley-Sky News here and go through all the questions - but it would be interesting to know where the fall comes from."
The Conservative Party has been pledging to bring down the net number of migrants allowed into the country to under 100,000 since 2010 but missed the mark repeatedly.
Boris Johnson promised to deliver a new "points-based" immigration policy after the Deceber 12 election but with manifestos from all major parties still under wraps, clarity on the specific aspects of the scheme is still lacking.
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Mr Neil continued: "They said they want to take in more seasonal workers on the farms, four times as many, that there will be a fast track for the NHS if we are short as we are by 100,000.
"And they want more qualified people from all over the world to come. So it’s quite hard to see, if you are going to do all that, where the fall comes from."
Home Secretary Priti Patel announced last week Britain's new immigration policy will take under consideration the NHS needs for staff, allowing applicants from the medical sector to have their visa requests fast-tracked and discounted.
FT political correspondent Laura Hughes suggested the Conservative Party will, however, refrain from setting a specific target when it comes to reducing migration.
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Ms Hughes said: "They are not going to put a number on it because when they did put a number on it in 2010, in 2015 and 2017, they said they would reduce net migration to under 100,000 every year.
"They didn’t, they couldn’t. So they are probably not going to say number."
She continued: "They got to balance it very carefully between those in the country who want to see immigration fall and businesses whose, ‘well, hang on, we need to make sure we have the skilled workers that we need.’
"Farmers are going to say, ‘what are we going to do post-Brexit?’ And so they’ve got to thread this very careful line of still trying to be the party of business but also represent those who had issues with immigration."
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Under the new system, applicants coming to work in the NHS would receive preferential treatment with extra points under the points-based system, and no cap on numbers entering through the NHS route.
They would also be able to pay back the cost of the immigration health surcharge through their salary if the charge is not already covered by the NHS trust offering the job.
The Tories said they want to launch the scheme before the points-based system comes in in 2021.
They have already announced a fast-track visa route to attract specialists in science, engineering and technology.