Immigration - what will the Conservatives actually do about it?

This is what the Conservatives have to say on the subject...

Britain can benefit from immigration, but not uncontrolled immigration. Look at any aspect of life today and you will see the contribution that migrants have brought, and not just to the economy. We want to continue to attract the brightest and the best people to the UK, but with control on the overall numbers coming here.

A Conservative government will reduce net immigration to the levels of the 1990s – tens of thousands a year, instead of the hundreds of thousands a year under Labour.

Our immigration policy is based on four strands:

We will introduce an annual limit on the numbers of non-EU economic migrants allowed to work here, taking into consideration the effects a rising population has on our public services and local communities. The limit would change each year to take into account the wider effects of immigration on society;

70% of those migrating to this country come from the European Union, so this proposal will do absolutely nothing to stop them.

We will work to prevent illegal migration with a dedicated Border Police Force to crack down on illegal immigration and people trafficking;

A policy shared with the Liberal Democrats...

We will introduce important new rules to tighten up the student visa system, which at the moment is the biggest hole in our border controls; and

risk further damage to our university sector, which now so relies on income from foreign students...

We will promote integration into British society. There will be an English language test for anyone coming here to get married.

Regardless of where they come from? Can you impose that on those from other EU member nations? Of course you can't?

A Conservative government would also apply transitional controls as a matter of course for all future EU entrants.

What is most interesting is what the Conservatives don't talk about in their manifesto. Whilst they have been highly critical about our proposal to allow those who have been here for ten years or more to potentially earn citizenship if they have no criminal record, speak English and want to live here long-term, there are no comments at all in the manifesto to suggest what the Conservatives would do instead to deal with the unknown number of such people in this country.

Efforts to find them and deport them have proved notably unsuccessful, so they lurk in the black economy, not paying tax, earning below minimum wage in many cases because they are hugely vulnerable to exploitation by the unscrupulous. Bringing them into the regular economy would increase the tax take, make little impact on the job market, because most of them are doing something to keep body and soul together, and reduce crime.

So, if offering them a route to citizenship is such a soft option, what is the Conservative proposal for dealing with the issue?