In the second of three reports, supported by Barrow Cadbury Fund and Unbound Philanthropy, aimed at setting a ‘liberal’ immigration agenda before the next General Election, CentreForum argues that politicians must restore confidence in the immigration system without jettisoning key liberal principles such as freedom and tolerance.

The report ‘Migration: a liberal challenge’proposes that migrants should be required to pay a £2,000 National Insurance advance upon first entering the UK.  As well as the National Insurance proposal, which would apply to non-EU economic migrants only, CentreForum’s report contains plans to extend the period before EU migrants can claim out of work benefits to 12 months.

It also joins calls to scrap the Conservative Party’s policy of reducing net migration to “the tens of thousands”, describing this target as “perverse” and “unfulfillable”. CentreForum instead recommends a broader migration and population change target that would be set at the beginning of every Parliament.

Find out more about CentreForum’s work.

Follow CentreForum on Twitter @CentreForum