Brown promises Britons first refusal on jobs

Gordon Brown yesterday promised his union backers for the leadership of the Labour Party that as Prime Minister he will ensure British people get first refusal on jobs in Britain.

His remarks were seen as a clear shift from Tony Blair's defence of cheap foreign workers as a means of boosting the British economy. Mr Blair has been accused by trade union leaders of trying to undercut British workers by opening the door to migrant workers from Eastern Europe.

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But speaking yesterday at a conference of the general workers union, the GMB, Mr Brown said: "I want to ensure that by working with employers in all sectors we can make sure that people have the skills and are given the help so that the jobs, when they come available, can go to those people in Britain who are registered and looking for jobs at the moment."

In a further reassurance to the unions, he said he wanted to ensure that 200,000 jobs in construction, the hospitality industry and the financial services for the London Olympics also went to British workers. It follows growing concern that many of the jobs on the 2012 Olympics would go to lower paid migrant workers from Poland and other new entrants to the European Union from the former Warsaw Pact countries.

"We are about to sign agreements for the Olympics and the construction trade so that the jobs in London go to people who are trained up here in Britain to get the jobs that are available," he said.

"I want to extend it too to the hospitality trade, to construction and to the financial services. I want... these jobs to go to British workers with skills that are given by us to enable them to get the jobs that are available," he said.

Mr Brown also promised that he would give priority to growing concern about crime and anti-social behaviour. "People are worried about what is happening to the British way of life."

Mr Brown who has led calls for an assertion of "Britishness" will be backed by Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly and Immigration Minister Liam Byrne. They will call for a national day to promote a stronger sense of British identity in a pamphlet out today.

The pamphlet, A Common Place, calls for a "vital debate" over the coming months about "how to create a fair, effective, transparent and trusted approach" to the idea of earning citizenship.

It says next year an "Australian-style points system" for migrants outside the EU could be introduced and suggests that "earned citizenship" is a "logical next step".