The Darwinian Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Darwinian Economy - Essay Example During a House Financial Services Committee hearing, it was put across that the simplest way to frame regulation was capital. Capital informs the amount of risk that financial institutions can take overall. It assures that the institutions have cushions that can absorb extreme shocks. Capital requirements are designed so as, given the uncertainty about the future and ignorance that there is concerning some elements of risk, it will ensure a greater cushion for absorption of loss and save bankers from consequences of judgment mistakes, as well as global uncertainty. The debate on whether to regulate or not to regulate has a great deal at stake. The global financial systems and their stability are dependent on adequate and effective capital requirements for these institutions with the 2008 crisis revealing vital problems with requirements as they currently stand (Ferguson, 2012: p1). However, economic recovery prospects, in Britain, the EU, and the US are heavily dependent on a steady credit flow, as well as lending. In addition, the available evidence is suggestive of the fact that over the top increment of capital requirements, in deed, will cause a credit crunch. Therefore, while financial institutions do require some level of regulation, they should not be over-regulated. Regulatory Failure Regulatory requirements of capital are not equally effective in their totality, especially because of two essential pitfalls that they are susceptible to; discretionary recognition of loss by regulators and bankers and discretionary bailouts by their governments (Barth et al, 2010: p34). Discretionary loss recognition refers to the use of practices of accounting that act to alter the meaning of capital. Instead of utilizing market based concepts, such as bank stock prices, so as to measure risk, as well as establish capital needs, regulators are reliant on concepts of accounting. They check on the bank’s books, rather than on the market assessments of the firmâ€⠄¢s held value. Regulatory capital, therefore, is referred to as accounting residual, i.e. the difference between asset accounting value and debt accounting value (Barth et al, 2010: p34). Accountants, book value, of course, are subject strict requirements of law. However, these requirements provide the regulators and bankers with discretion, especially concerning timing, which allows them to delay the acknowledgement of problems, as well as acting on these problems (Barth et al, 2010: p36). In addition, neither regulators nor bankers tend to recognize losses fully during poor economic conditions. The bankers will usually prefer to use delay tactics, such as ever greening, i.e. re-lending of money to the delinquent borrowers in order for these borrowers to pay back ballooning costs of debt service using even more debt to mask their problems. Bank regulators, on their part, always crave system stability, especially forbearance, to avoid worsening or precipitating a crisis. Therefore, they find ways to utilize their allotted discretion so as to downplay the size of losses in order for the banks not to require lost capital replacement (Barth et al, 2010: p34). When the above-mentioned practices are done on a large scale, they can have disastrous results. In the preceding events of the 2008 financial crisis, for instance, their combination caused a failure in the replacement of bank capital in time, which led to an intensification of the eventual

Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 27

Analysis - Essay Example Whereas, K12 learners are comparatively passive and they trust the instructor’s ideas unconditionally (Lc.unsw.edu.au, 2015).Working adults are focused upon evaluation and need practical application upon the topic being taught but evaluation and high level practical approach is not the need of K12 learners. However, both focus upon learning and enhancing their abilities and skills. Bloom’s taxonomy consists of six different stages which are (starting from lowest to highest) knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis synthesis and evaluation (Metro, 2015). According to the needs identified above Bloom’s taxonomy can be used by focusing more upon knowledge, comprehension and application than analysis, synthesis and evaluation, vice versa for higher studies learners (Tech, 2015). For example while teaching Newton’s three laws of motion the school learners should be able to recite three laws of motion (knowledge), explain three laws of motion in their own words (comprehension) and be able to calculate the kinetic energy of a projectile (application). Whereas higher studies students along with this should be able to differentiate between potential and kinetic energy (analysis), design the problem dealing with the conservation of energy (synthesis) and determine whether using conservation of energy or conservation of momentum would be more appropriate for solving a dynamic problem (evaluation). (Tech, 2015)I consider myself a lifelong learner. My instructional needs include clear, concrete communication with a practical approach.   Lc.unsw.edu.au,. (2015).  Differences Between High School and Uni >> First Steps: A Beginners Guide to Uni >> The Learning Centre UNSW. Retrieved 23 January 2015, from http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/firststeps/differ.html Metro, k. (2015).  Writing Objectives Using Blooms Taxonomy | The Center for Teaching and Learning | UNC Charlotte.  Teaching.uncc.edu. Retrieved 23

Country report Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Country report - Research Paper Example Then we’ll also look at the government structure of UAE and how they encourage foreign policies. The trade index of UAE and their financial standings will also be looked at in this report. Furthermore their GDP of 23% and growth rate will be discussed to see exactly how stable the economy of UAE is. It was seen that the abundance of crude oil and natural gas reserves, their free port zones and the sudden construction boom in UAE are the main reasons for their economic progress and financial growth. We will also look at the imports and exports of UAE and discuss how they’ve been encouraging foreign direct investments. With GDP of $54,607 / capita at minimum as per IMF, UAE is among the top 20 growing economies in the world. As per the estimate of 2009, UAE has the population of around 6 million which makes it the 120th largest country by population and its area is 32,278 sq mile which makes it 116th largest country by area. The population can be further discussed by the following chart UAE is an Arab country with the national language as Arabic, currency as Dirham, National animal is Arabian horse, National flower is Tribulus Omanese, National Bird is Peregrine Falcon, National tree is Ghaf Trees, Sport is Camel Race Drink is Camel Milk, and national Dress is Khandura United Arab Emirates has a history from 5500 BC from the times of Neolithic. In 630 the arrivals of Islamic envoys started and Ridda war was fought here when the Non-Muslims were defeated and this area went under Muslim rule. UAE went in Portuguese control in the 16th century when Portuguese started their expansion in the Indian Ocean and they ruled this area for about 150 years. Later this area got famous with the name of â€Å"Pirate Coast† from the 17th to 19th Century as it was under Ottoman Empire. British started their expeditions in order to protect their trade of India from the raiders at Ras Al-Khaimah. That further led to British taking

How my life would be if I was white men Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

How my life would be if I was white men - Essay Example I can also turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented. And when I am told about our national heritage or about "civilization," I am shown that people of my color made it what it is. Another privilege is I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race. I can be pretty sure of having my voice heard in a group in which I am the only member of my race. Â  I can also travel alone or with my spouse without expecting embarrassment or hostility in those who deal with us. And there’s so much more to be enumerated. Some people say that racism in USA doesn’t exist anymore and that they obtained a color blind society. But as I experience, the so called white privileges is still very visible. I will never be a white man indeed, but still I’m hoping that someday, the so called white privileges will also be enjoyed by black man like me.

Effective Team Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Effective Team - Essay Example Remember everything is easy to do; all that makes it difficult will be the wrong mindset the person doing the thing might have whiles doing the thing. Teams are very important tools in various aspects of life ranging from education sports and the world of business. One very important thing that makes a team powerful is the coming together of various complementary skills from different individuals with different perspectives and qualities. All knowledge and skills are not embedded in only an individual . It is therefore important all these individual skills and qualities are brought together to complement one another or in other words enrich each others value and potential in attaining a common goal for the common good of all. This however makes teams especially i n the business sector very necessary and more powerful than indicial efforts in the performance of certain duties . Although characteristics of teams might sound very rosy, one difficulty that comes with it is its formation or I should say the ability to form an effective team. There is however more difficulty when the right steps are not taken before these teams are formed and when this happens managing the teams after formation becomes very difficult. These things that need to be considered before a team is formed will be explained into details later in the essay. WHO IS AN INDIVIDUAL From the definition of a team given earlier on in the essay, it is very obvious that individuals form the basic core and elements of a team. It is however important we take a look at who actually an individual is. This will help us especially in bringing the right and compactable individuals together to form a team. An individual however refers to a person or any subject in a collection. In this case, this collection will be all humans. Each individual however has his or her own unique qualities and skills but not all qualities and skills. It is therefore if not impossible, very rare to find an individual who poses all knowledge in all fields. This however means individual efforts and actions made in solving certain problems or attaining certain goals are limited hence reducing the efficiency in outputs of individual efforts as compared to the outputs of the efforts of an effective and well established team. In order to make good use of these individual traits and skills, it is important we bring all these individuals together and transform them into a strong team which will achieve great goals and give out efficient performances in whatever area of work that might be concerned, especially in the area of business. The process of transforming individuals into teams must however bring a complete change and all conditions of preservation and stagnation on the parts of the individuals must be eliminated. This also means certain mindsets and practices

Investigate their human resources, administration, finance and sales Essay Example for Free

Investigate their human resources, administration, finance and sales Essay Marks and Spencers have many different store departments but also have many different departments of their business, its functional areas. I am going to look at and investigate their human resources, administration, finance and sales and marketing departments to then see how each contributes to the running of Marks and Spencers. Human Resources: The human resources department aims to carry out 5 major things, these being: 1. Recruiting, keeping and dismissing employees. This is a major task for MS as they need the right type of employees for the business to operate its best, also the employees shall decide the businesses success present and future. Recruiting new employees could be hiring new people from outside the business or promoting workers already working in the business. Many businesses such as MS like recruiting from outside the business to bring new ideas and enthusiasm. MS would want to keep all their existing employees as they would risk losing experienced and trained staff, plus recruiting new workers and training them can prove to be expensive. Sometimes MS would have to dismiss or sack employees, this may be due if an employee cannot carry out their job efficiently or effectively. Also many employees are dismissed or made redundant, as their jobs no longer exist, say the fall in a particular product could lead to the dismissal of many staff. Read more:Â  Human Resource Management Essay 2. Monitoring and providing good working conditions. Working conditions includes; the cleanliness of a place, the provision of rest areas, hours of work and holidays. Working conditions have a great impact on how well a business operates and how well employees can carry out their work. They are normally a subject for negotiation between trade unions and human resources. MS have an area for staff to relax and spend their breaks in. The whole store would be regularly cleaned every day for both the workers and customers. 3. Training, developing and promoting employees. Human resources need their staff to be able to ensure that employees are able to do their jobs, they may give training at MS or through course at local colleges, planning jobs so that employees enjoy new experiences and develop new skills also promoting employees to more senior positions to give the business the skills and experience it needs. 4. Negotiating with trade unions. The human resources department of MS would have to discuss and agree pay and working conditions with trade unions or other representatives of the workforce. This process is called collective bargaining. 5. Health and safety is an important responsibility for human resources, as it requires MS to provide all employees with a secure risk free working environment. That is what the human resources function of MS had to ensure is carried out. Here are some typical job titles within an organisation such as MS. Job title Description Human resources director Deciding the overall staffing policies of Boots. Also he/she advise senior management. Setting the human resources budget. In charge of all human resource functions in Boots. Human resources manager He/she manages the human resources department and staff involved with industrial relations and trade union negotiations, also ensuring his/he staff is following the policies of Boots. Recruitment officer Responsible for the taking on of staff and section of staff, depending on their standard of work they offer to Boots and the customers of Boots. Training/staff development officer He/she are responsible for training and developing of their staff to bring or take them to a higher level. Personnel/staffing officer Keeping staff records, monitoring staff welfare. Health and safety officer He/she makes sure all aspects of health and safety are in order for staff matters. Also they monitor accident and prevention. Security officer General security, responsible for all security staff. Human resources administrative assistants Administrative work relating to the human resource function. Finance: Now I am going to look at the finance function of MS. The finance department of a business manages the money for the business. The department controls the financial transactions of a business and help managers to plan for the future. The various activities of the finance department are: 1. Recording all the financial matters of MS as they are constantly spending money or receiving it from sales. It is vital that they keep all records of all the activities in order to, calculate whether the business is being profitable, asses how much tax the business will have to pay and to help managers to make the right decisions. 2. All businesses have to prepare their accounts in order to summarise their financial affairs during a year, plcs are required to publish their results legally as they are a public company such as MS. They have to do the following; the balance sheet which states both what a businesses aims and its debts, profit and loss account- which records the profit or loss made during a lengthy period of time usually a year, the inland revenue have to confirm that MS has paid the correct amount of tax, suppliers are able to see whether business can pay its debts and finally shareholders can decide whether its worth investing in the business or not. 3. MS have to pay the wages of all their employees and it involves the finance department in a number of ways. The business has to deduct income tax and national insurance from each employees pay, it may be required to operate a pension scheme for its more elderly employees and to make sure the correct amount of wages or salaries has been given out to employees. 4. All businesses need some resources and capital to trade successfully. To purchase these resources businesses may need to raise large sums of money, known as capital, but not MS as they are already fully developed and expanding across the globe. But nevertheless a business has 2 main sources of capital; a loan raised by borrowing money from a bank or another business and retained profits, if MS has been very profitable they may be able to invest in the business and obtain resources they may need. Some typical job roles in the finance function in MS would include; Job Description Financial director Giving advice to senior managers on the overall financial policy of MS. Overseeing the budget of MS. In charge of all finance function in MS. Financial Manager Managing the finance function and staff. He/she also advises other members of staff with any financial queries. Chief Accountant He/She ensures that final preparation of accounts MS are in good and correct order. Management accountant He/She produces continuous financial information to MS. Credit Controller Advising on credit policies. Making sure money owing to MS kept in confidence. Credit control clerks Helps check accounts of new and existing customers accounts. He/She works below the Credit Controller but assist the credit controller. They also remind customers of overdue payments Chief Cashier He/She is responsible for the receipt, safe keeping accounting and banking all money received from boots. Payroll Administrator He/She is in control of ensuring that all of MS employees payroll and salary/wages section. Wages Clerks He/She helps and assists the payroll administrator, in the production of wages ands salary details. Administration: The administration department provides important support services to other departments in the business. Not all admin departments in all businesses are the same. In small businesses the admin department may take responsibility for human resources or finance, but in a large organisation such as MS it is usually most likely to be specialised. The admin department makes considerable use of computers and IT as it is required for a lot of their jobs. There are as always many activities for the administration department; they can be broken down into 5 groups: 1. Clerical services are the main role of every admin department. The department may provide clerical services to all other departments within the business. These maybe; word-processing, making telephone calls, booking accommodation for staff, sorting and delivering incoming mail and posting outgoing mail, organising meetings and keeping records of what takes place at these meetings, talking responsibly on behalf of the whole company and creating and keeping records of the company. 2. All businesses require regular cleaning MS is no exception as it is especially true as MS have cafes, which require thorough cleanliness. Admin also organises the maintenance of the building, they may decorate the inside and outside of the building if they wish. 3. Health and safety is a big issue with all businesses. It includes; providing safety clothing, warnings for workers, ensuring that there are no dangers around the workplace and providing regular medical checks for those working in risky environments. 4. Security is an increasingly important issue for all businesses, security duties would include; signing visitors in and out of premises, ensuring that unauthorised people are kept out by use of patrols or even guard dogs, protecting computer systems from hackers, patrolling to prevent shoplifting by employing guards in uniform. 5. Information technology is being more widely used by the minute, nearly all businesses use some form of IT nowadays. The admin department may use IT to; make spreadsheet for financial data, a database of customers and employees, payroll systems to calculate employees wages and salaries, e mail for communicating internal and external, web based systems, web sites for selling goods etc. Typical job roles of the administration function would be: Job Description Administration manager Managing the administration operations of MS. Administration assistant Assists with administrative tasks in particular areas. Secretary of Boots A senior executive responsible for all the legal affairs of MS. It manager Managing all IT requirements of MS, including equipment maintenance and advising on future needs. Office manager/senior administrator Responsible for ensuring the administrating operations in particular office or department. Chief security officer He/she is responsible for the security staff and advising on security requirements. Security Responsible for maintaining and monitoring security to the required standard. Reprographics supervisor (photo coping and printing) Ensuring all reprographics are done and to a high standard, as it reflects on Boots reputation from the quality of leaflets and formal letters etc. Pa / Secretarial staff These staff are mainly there to providing secretarial and administrative support to senior members of staff and Word processing operator/Data input clerk (worker) He/she type out letters and any other documents and also input data into a computer system. Maintenance of Staff He/she is responsible for routine maintenance work, which may include painting or decorating. Cleaning Staff Cleaning of general office areas, facilities and equipment Marketing and Sales: Marketing and sales involve businesses in many ways. Marketing is the process that helps all businesses to discover and meet the needs of customers. Doing market research, carrying it out in the local and wider community enables the business to discover: 1 Customer reactions to existing products 2 What new goods and services customers want 3 Whether or not new products will prove to be popular 4 The prices customers are prepared to pay for goods 5 How satisfied customers already are with the service Marks and Spencers therefore do the following; discover customer needs through market research, advise customers of products through promotion then achieve their sales. There are 2 types of research that can be carried out, Primary- gathering data for the 1st time by asking for views and opinions through questionnaires, interviews, surveys etc and Secondary research which is research that has already been done by someone else such as newspapers web site etc. The best-known marketing activity is promotion. 1 Advertising on TV, radio, internet, billboards, newspapers etc 2 Sales promotions, giving free samples like buy 1 get 1 free etc 3 Public relations, attempting to influence the publics opinions of the business and its products through sponsorship, trade fairs the press and media Businesses try to achieve their sales through a number of ways: 1 Selling products through shops 2 Personal selling such as when sales reps encourage customers to buy their products 3 Internet selling is an increasingly important sales method as it is spreading and growing bigger The typical job roles you can expect are: Typical job Title Job Role Marketing Director Responsible for over all marketing function and its aims and objectives. Sales Director He/She is responsible for the sales function. Sales Manager He/she is responsible for MS entire sales staff and achievement of sales targets usually within the UK. Export Manager This individual is responsible for agents and sales overseas. Advertising Manager In charge of advertising and publishing successful advertising campaigns. Sales Coordinator This person is responsible for giving urgent information required by sales staffs that are travelling. Sales Representatives MS sales staff who visit customers in UK and abroad. Market Researchers This team is relied upon to find out what customers want and whether or not there is a need for this new product. Order Clerks This staffs are responsible to accept and process sales orders. Telephone Sales staff Accept and process telephone orders.

New Labours Immigration Policy

New Labours Immigration Policy A report on new labour immigration policy UK The aim of the following report is to provide a summary and analysis of UK immigration policy under New Labour governments. The debates surrounding immigration policy have continued to cause political controversy since New Labour came into power in 1997. New Labour had hoped to speed up the immigration process to be fairer to potential immigrants and asylum seekers, whilst improving administrative efficiency, though it has faced difficulties in achieving its aims. The report will assess the effectiveness or otherwise of immigration policy and all areas of strengths and weaknesses will be examined. New Labour has found immigration policy a difficult area to handle; the reasons for such difficulty will be discussed in the report below. It must be mentioned that some direct influences upon immigration policy are outside of the UK government’s direct control. For instance, the expansion of the European Union (EU) with its corresponding increase in the number of people that are fre e to enter the country. Whilst increases in wars, civil wars, and repression by authoritarian regimes across the globe can often lead to more people wishing to claim asylum or refugee status. New Labour and immigration policy Immigration policy has always been an issue that has been capable of producing controversy and debate within British politics and society, with the media sometimes being particularly influential. Policy is sometimes shaped or altered by that debate, and in the past has convinced governments that immigration policy has had to be completely changed. Since the early 1960s successive British governments had sought to limit immigration into the UK.[1] New Labour was keen to make immigration policy fairer without encouraging higher levels of immigration. UK immigration policy was already faced with difficulties when New Labour came into office. Making decisions as to whether people were legal immigrants, illegal immigrants, refugees, or asylum seekers was a complicated process. The number of asylum seekers increased slowly but surely during the 1990s as a result of conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, Somalia, and Afghanistan, as well as other countries. The Conservatives tried to halt that increase by denying right of appeal and withdrawing social security payments to failed asylum seekers.[2] New Labour reversed some of the Conservatives policies aimed at reducing immigration. For example, returning failed asylum seekers to their home countries if those countries were considered safe was no longer done automatically, and some of the restrictions with regard to social security payments were reduced. New Labour also reintroduced the right to appeal for those that were refused entry or leave to remain in the UK. These initial reductions in immigration control have to a great extent being reversed.[3] New Labour’s initial liberalisation of immigration policy was not destined to last long. Whilst New Labour was reducing the UK’s immigration controls other EU states, Germany and France in particular were increasing theirs. Tighter German and French immigration controls meant that that more asylum seekers came to the UK, which placed a strain on the immigration system and tested the resolve of New Labour to maintain its more liberal immigration policy. The immigration system was unable to cope with the volume of asylum seekers; the appeal process was slow and caused a large backlog of cases waiting to be decided. The problems with immigration policy were widely reported by the media and were used by both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats to criticise New Labour. New Labour responded by making its immigration policy less liberal, attempting to improve the administration of the immigration system and by reducing the number of asylum seekers allowed into the coun try. New Labour was able to persuade the French government to close down the Sangette Refugee Centre, which was close to the Eurotunnel terminal and allowed asylum seekers to get in to the UK. New Labour resorted to some of the measures previously used by the Conservatives to restrict immigrants, such as sending failed asylum seekers back to the countries deemed to be safe, speeding up appeal times and making people appeal from abroad.[4] New Labour argued that restricting immigration policy would help reduce support for extreme parties such as the British National Party that have received strong electoral support in areas like Burnley and Oldham.[5] The expansion of the EU has affected the immigration policy of New Labour. New member states citizens have rights to work and live in the UK. Citizens from Poland, the Czech Republic, and the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, have immigrated to the UK to find work. Official statistics show that the Poles were the largest national groups of approved immigrants in 2004, with 26,600 being allowed into the UK.[6] New Labour underestimated the number of people from Eastern Europe that would enter the UK after their countries joined the EU, which prompted ministers to consider work permits for those people from Bulgaria and Romania who wished to come to the UK from January 2007.[7] An important part of New Labour immigration policy is attracting skilled and semi-skilled immigrants and their families into the UK. Firstly these workers are wanted to fill skilled jobs, which means that they should be net contributors of tax and national insurance contributions. The controlled immigration of skilled workers adds to the UK’s resources rather than taking away from them. Secondly, young skilled and semi-skilled workers are encouraged to come to the UK to reduce the economic consequences of an ageing population; it is hoped that they will help to pay for the pensions, and public services of everybody that lives in the UK. New Labour has adopted its immigration policy to score potential immigrants against a series of criteria that assess their skills for potential employers. Those workers that score the highest points are the people that find it easiest to gain entry into the UK.[8] The terms of accession for the Eastern European states means that immigrants do n ot have to be skilled or semi-skilled workers to enter the UK. However, unskilled workers may find it more difficult to find long-term work and are perhaps more likely to need social security benefits.[9] East European immigrant workers have, like previous immigrants, not found themselves welcomed by everyone, as some people believe that they are taking away jobs from British workers. Immigrant workers are often prepared to accept lower wages, yet in many cases they are taking jobs that few British workers want.[10] Critics of New Labour’s immigration policy have argued that the UK received more immigrants due to fewer restrictions being in place, such as work permits and less entitlement to social security benefits. Some also believe that New Labour immigration policy is so ineffective that it hardly constitutes a policy at all. An example of New Labour’s inability to administer its immigration policy was the resignation of the junior minister Beverley Hughes over the fast tracking of visas.[11] In 2005, Home Secretary John Reid went as far as describing the Immigration and Nationalities Directorate as ‘not been fit for purpose’ due to its failure to deport foreign prisoners after the completion of their sentences.[12] There has certainly been frequent media coverage about current levels of immigration being unsustainable for the UK’s health, education, and social security infrastructures. Some of these articles are well researched and plausible, whilst others amount to scare mongering. Former New Labour minister Frank Field argues that the present rate of immigration into the UK is unsustainable, especially if the present net population gains continue at 2004 rates, or indeed if they increase which is possible due to Romania and Bulgaria joining the EU. Official figures show that 329,000 immigrants entered the UK from the new EU member states between 2004 and 2006. Field claims that such migration ‘is producing the equivalent of a new city of Birmingham every five years.’[13] These people that believe New Labour immigration policy has become too restrictive argue that right wing media, pressure groups such as Migrationwatch UK, and the Conservatives have set the agenda over immigration. As with previous restrictions of immigration policy the fear that the Far Right might make electoral gains has been another reason or excuse to restrict immigration.[14] With the exception of a few isolated backbenchers the Labour party has accepted its leadership adoption of more restrictive immigration policy. For instance, New Labour MPs voted for the Immigration Act 2002 which introduced detention centres for asylum seekers and the provision of citizenship lessons for those immigrants that were allowed to live in the UK. New Labour claimed that the new legislation restricted immigration, whilst protecting the human rights of asylum seekers. The bill was only passed because the government made concessions about the location of detention centres to the House of Lords.[15 ] The Liberal Democrats have been the most vocal opponents of New Labour shifts in immigration policy. The Liberal Democrats believe that New Labour has failed to liberalise immigration policy and that claims that they wish to protect the human rights of asylum seekers or immigrants are just a sham. Former Home Secretary David Blunkett was certainly enthusiastic about restricting New Labour immigration policy and reducing the number of asylum seekers, a stance his successors will probably continue. The Liberal Democrats have even tried to complain to the Commission for Racial Equality about what they claim is New Labour’s racist immigration policy.[16] Official statistics have shown declining numbers of asylum seekers and higher numbers of people being returned to their countries of origin. Whereas previously New Labour made public declarations of making immigration policy fairer and less restrictive, it now shows figures depicting falling immigrant numbers that prove tighter and controls are working better.[17] Home Office figures frequently show that 70% of asylum applications fail. It was just taking longer to turn down people when 18,000 applications, a quarter were being received, like the number of applications that were made in the first quarter of 2002.[18] The immigration that New Labour has tried to restrict differed from previous periods of immigration in that as would be immigrants were not form the New Commonwealth countries but from Eastern Europe or from places such as Somalia and Afghanistan troubled by violence or the disintegration of their state.[19] New Labour claims that its immigration policy has started to deliver ‘a fair, fast, and firm system’. The backlog in asylum and immigration applications meant that the government adopted pragmatic, as well as restrictive measures to speed up the immigration process and increase administrative efficiency. The first obvious measure was to prevent potential asylum seekers reaching the UK in the first place, by securing ports and airports, as well as preventing boarding the Eurostar trains in France. Improving administrative efficiency was helped by employing some extra 2,000 people within the Home Office to deal with immigration work. Extra staff contributed to more than 84% of first decisions being made within two months of applications being received. The issuing of identity cards and the finger printing of all asylum seekers has allowed for more people being deported and fewer being able to remain illegally within the UK. Overall New Labour contends that the total of asy lum applications has dropped by 70% since October 2002.[20] New Labour believes that simplifying the appeals structure and making failed asylum seekers appeal from abroad has contributed to the fall in asylum applications. The Asylum and Immigration Tribunal that replaced the previously more complicated appeals system from 2005 is considered an important part of its drive towards increased administrative efficiency.[21] When it came to power New Labour had intended to liberalise immigration policy into the UK. If that liberalisation of immigration policy had been sustained it would have marked a break from the progressively restrictive policies of Conservative and Labour governments since the 1960s. The administration of the immigration service had started to be strained in the last years of the Conservative government as worsening conditions in countries such as the former Yugoslavia, Somalia, and Afghanistan had led to more people seeking asylum. The liberalisation of immigration policy by New Labour inadvertently led to making the strain on the immigration service worse. Restoring the right of appeal to failed asylum seekers, the relaxation of restrictions to social security benefits when combined with a large increase in asylum applications made for a chaotic backlog in which the government seemed to lose control of immigration policy. New Labour had to take pragmatic measures to end the backlog by making it harder for people to enter the UK illegally, and by employing more staff to deal with the backlog. New Labour had political reasons for reversing its liberalisation of immigration policy that carried more weight than practical reasons for restoring administrative control of the situation. New Labour despite its huge majorities in the 1997 and 2001 general elections did not wish to lose electoral support to the Conservatives or other right wing parties like the BNP due to its immigration policy being considered too soft. New Labour did not set the agenda over immigration policy; the Conservatives, pressure groups, and the media set it. More restrictive immigration policy and the effect of improved administrative practices helped to lower the number of asylum seekers from its peak in October 2002. However, for right wing critics of New Labour its immigration policy could never be restrictive enough, whilst for the Liberal Democrats and other left wing critics New Labour has betrayed its promises of respecting the human rights of immigrants and asylum seekers for its own electoral ga in. Perhaps the most contentious area of New Labour immigration policy relates to the immigration of people from the new member states of the EU. These people have greater rights to enter the UK than people from outside of the EU. The long term economic benefits or costs of this migration are not yet clear, although the arrival of immigrants has not proved to be popular and has caused resentment about lower wages and the taking of jobs from British workers. The main recommendation from this report is that New Labour makes the administration of its immigration policy as efficient as possible. Poor organisation and lack of resources made the backlog of immigration cases worse. New Labour needs to commit enough well trained staff to ensure its immigration policy has direction and works. New Labour should also collect accurate information regarding levels of immigration, and adjust its policy accordingly, as a government it should focus on effective policy rather than spin. Bibliography Bright M, Wazir B, Flatt E, The Observer December 1 2002 Onward march of lobby against immigration Coxall B, Robins L Leach R (2003) Contemporary British Politics 4th edition, Palgrave, Basingstoke Field F, Daily Mail 30th June 2006, Why are politicians ignoring the immigration timebomb? Fisher J, Denver D, Benyon J, (2003) Central Debates in British Politics, Longman, London Hume M, 2 April 2004 New Labours problem is disintegration, not immigration www.spiked-online.com Kingdom J (2003) Government and Politics in Britain, An Introduction 3rd edition, Polity Press, Cambridge Moran M, (2005) Politic and Governance in the UK, Palgrave, Basingstoke Schott B, (2006) Schott’s Almanac 2007, Bloomsbury, London The Guardian, November 7 2002 Asylum bill becomes law Whitaker’s, (2007) Whitaker’s Almanack 2007 – today’s world in one volume, A C Black, London Young H, (2003) supping with the Devils – Political writing from Thatcher to Blair, Guardian Books, London www.labour.org.uk – Asylum and Immigration 1 Footnotes [1] Fisher et al, (2003) p. 5 [2] Young, (20030 p. 230 [3] Kingdom, (2003), p.198 [4] Young, (2003), p.246 [5] Kingdom, (2003), p.198 [6] Whitaker’s Almanack, (2007), p.18 [7] www.labour.org.uk [8] Moran, (2005) p. 49 [9] Whitaker’s Almanack, (2007) p. 18 [10] Young (2003) p. 246 [11] Spiked-online.com, 2 April 2004 [12] Schott, (2007) pp. 45-7 [13] Frank Field, Daily Mail 30th June 2006 [14] Bright et al, The Observer December 1 2002 [15] The Guardian, November 7 2002 [16] Kingdom, (2003), p.198 [17] Coxall et al, (2003), p.394 [18] Kingdom, (2003), p.195 [19] Coxall et al, (2003), p.20 [20] www.labour.org.uk [21] Whitaker’s Almanack (2007) p. 344