It now seems that the Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, has set out the terms for a national debate on emigration. This was brought about when Alan Johnson said that it was legitimate to argue for a predetermined quota on emigration. However, there should be no call for emigration to cease or for an open door policy.

Alan Johnson is attempting to hold a proper debate on emigration with the shadow home secretary, Chris Grayling, and the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, Chris Huhne. Johnson, who just recently refused to appear on the BBC’s Question Time with Nick Griffin, said that there was some truth in the suggestion of having emigration limits.

The IPPR think tank, Tim Finch, said that it is now believed that the time has now come to find a new way of discussing emigration. It needs to be done openly, honestly and constructively.

During the debate, the home secretary said that he hoped that emigration would all be based on four main principles. He noted that it had to be recognized that there are some communities that are going to be more affected by emigration than others. He went on to say that Britain was not alone in facing this kind of issue and that the people that come to Britain need to learn the language and pay their taxes.

Alan Johnson went on to acknowledge that Labour had made mistakes on emigration and had been very slow to act over the asylum backlog in its early years. He did go on to praise his predecessors, including Jack Straw, who was the home secretary during those years, for his role in dispersing asylum seekers around the country.

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