On the one hand, big fines offer big incentives to both recruiters and employers to ensure that workers are eligible to work in the UK, under measures proposed by immigration minister Liam Byrne. On the other hand, the bar is raised for highly skilled migrants who want to work legally in this country. And isn't there a skills shortage going on?



Requiring jobseekers to show a passport or other proof of national identity should pose no major problem for recruiters or employers; it can simply be part of a checklist. But where is the joined-up, practical approach to immigration that allows motivated workers with valuable skills to move here to work legally and pay taxes?



Isn't it obvious that it's not that particular workforce, or those who recruit them or employ them, that the government should be so concerned with hobbling?