JOIN USThe Home Affairs Select Committee said in a report that the proposed annual cap on immigration due to come into effect in April next year will cover less than 20 per cent of long-term migrants to Britain.
The controversial annual cap is already preventing British employers from recruiting the required skills that are not available within the EU. Besides employers, the cap has also been opposed by members of the Cameron government, including Business secretary Vince Cable.
The report adds that the cap will make little difference to overall immigration and may do serious damage to Britain's knowledge economy. The report warns that the proposed cap has triggered widespread concerns that it will hamper business and damage science and universities, and quotes evidence from eight Nobel prizewinning scientists of the potential damage to Britain's science base.
The Nobel laureates told the MPs that it was a sad reflection on national priorities that the cap would exempt international footballers but not elite scientists or engineers.
"We consider it totally illogical that professional sportspeople should be exempted from the cap but elite international scientists are not," conclude the MPs. The coalition government is committed to reducing the level of net migration into the UK – those coming to work or study minus those going to live abroad – down from "hundreds of thousands to tens of thousands" by the time of the next election in May 2015.
"We are concerned that the proposed cap not only will make little difference to immigration overall, it may also damage the UK's knowledge economy," it said. It adds that committee members are particularly concerned about the impact on overseas students.
Vaz said: "We were particularly concerned about the potential effect on international students. Our evidence underlined their crucial importance to the cultural and intellectual life, as well as finances, of UK educational institutions".
He added: "The government should direct its efforts to tackling those who abuse the system – bogus colleges and visa overstayers – rather than penalising legitimate students."
Labour's immigration spokesman, Phil Woolas, said: "The cap is the worst of both worlds – it doesn't control immigration but it does damage our economy and universities."