UK deputy PM Clegg opposes visa bond plan

September 15, 2013 05:16 pm | Updated June 02, 2016 12:19 pm IST - LONDON

Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg on Sunday said he will try to block any attempt to make foreign visitors routinely pay a security deposit to come to the UK, an idea that has spurred outrage in countries such as India and Nigeria.

The government plans to begin a pilot project in November involving Nigeria, Ghana, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Some visitors will have to pay a 3,000 pound deposit, refunded upon departure.

The government has not said how many visa applicants will have to pay the bond.

Mr. Clegg said he opposes “an indiscriminate bond being applied to visitors who want to come to this country.”

“I am absolutely not interested in a bond, which becomes an indiscriminate way of clobbering people who want to come to this country,” Mr. Clegg told the BBC . He said the bonds “are certainly not going to go ahead” on that basis.

“Of course in a coalition I can stop things,” he added.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.