May reassures businesses over immigration cap

Home Secretary Theresa May insisted business needs will be taken into account as she announced the UK's first immigration cap.

Ms May pledged there would be consultation on how best to implement an annual limit on economic migrants from outside the EU.

The Home Secretary is to introduce a temporary limit on non-EU arrivals to prevent a "surge" in the run-up to the introduction of a permanent maximum next April.

Ms May said: "What we have got in the coalition agreement, is an agreement between both Conservatives and Liberal Democrats that we should have this annual limit - that this is an issue that we need to deal with.

"Immigration into the UK has been good for us but uncontrolled immigration is not, so we need to bring in these controls."

The immediate restrictions will mean that just 24,100 workers from outside Europe can enter the country before April 2011 - a fall of five per cent on last year.