London: Re-igniting the row over immigration, the Opposition Conservatives have proposed that only highly educated foreign workers with an annual income of at least 25,000 pounds should be allowed to settle in Britain.

The proposals, unveiled today (Sep 5, 2004) in a report commissioned by the Tories, would bar thousands of low-paid migrants from living in the United Kingdom.

Migrants will have to demonstrate that they have a good university degree and will be made ineligible for State benefits so that they do not become a drain on the tax-payer.

The document focused on the need for Britain to attract more high-skilled professional migrants to jobs, which pay above the average British salary of 25,000 pounds.

It criticised Home Secretary David Blunkett for abolishing the higher skills threshold for migrants when he took office.

With immigration threatening to be one of the key battlegrounds in the next elections, the Tories are preparing to be controversial.

The report appears to endorse the claim that "Britain is full". It states that too many poorly skilled migrants are affecting the quality of life of ordinary Britons.

The report is the result of an independent inquiry chaired by Timothy Kirkhope, the former Tory Immigration Minister who is now a Member of the European Parliament.