David Cameron slaps down MP Nadhim Zahawi who wants amnesty for illegal immigrants

DAVID CAMERON hit out yesterday at a Tory MP who called for an amnesty for all illegal immigrants.

Mr Zahawi thinks amnesty for illegal immigrants would boost tax revenues Mr Zahawi thinks amnesty for illegal immigrants would boost tax revenues

The Prime Minister said letting border cheats stay would send a “terrible signal” around the world that Britain is a soft touch.

His rebuke came after backbencher Nadhim Zahawi urged a one-off amnesty for more than half a million illegal immigrants.

The MP for Stratford-upon-Avon, who has been tipped as a future minister, called for a “seismic” change in immigration policy to help attract more ethnic minority votes to the Conservatives.

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But Mr Cameron, speaking at an EU summit in Brussels, said: “It’s not what we are going to implement. I’ve never supported an amnesty. I think that it would send a terrible signal.”

He added: “Nadhim Zahawi is a very bright MP who’s got a lot to offer the Conservative Party, got a lot to offer the country.

“I’m all for MPs thinking independently and coming up with good ideas, but this is not a good idea.”

Mr Zahawi – whose Kurdish family came to the UK as refugees from Saddam Hussein’s Iraq – was writing an essay for a new policy think tank. He said an amnesty could help boost tax revenues by taking the migrants out of the black economy. “Moving these people into the legitimate economy has obvious attractions,” he said.

He said the Tories needed radical measures to rebuild support among ethnic minority communities.

But critics of mass immigration dismissed his call. Sir Andrew Green of MigrationWatch UK said: “This is a crazy idea.”

UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage said: “He wants to legitimise half a million illegal immigrants, thus giving them full access to all welfare benefits. The clue, if he is interested, is in the word illegal.”

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