Think Britain is a soft touch on immigration? Think again

A poll on perceptions of immigration policies across some European countries has shown that the UK is most often seen as strict.

In the YouGov poll, which assessed the opinions across seven nations of the immigration policies of the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy, the UK polled as the strictest except among British and French respondents.

A majority of British respondents believed that there was more immigration into the UK than other countries.

Meanwhile 45 per cent believed it was easier for illegal immigrants to enter the UK than other countries.

UK net migration reached an all-time high for January to March, at 330,000, an increase of 28 per cent from last year.

However, the UK has the 11th highest per cent of foreign born population in the EU, as of January 2014.

The poll comes as David Cameron faces growing public and political condemnation for his refusal to open Britain's doors to thousands more desperate refugees.

The prime minister said that the UK will fulfil its "moral responsibilities" with regards to the crisis.

Tim Farron, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said:

There is a humanitarian crisis on our doorstep, but the UK Government appears disengaged, cold and irrelevant. We must take our fair share of refugees.

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