Tony Blair does not regret the decision to lift border controls for Eastern European immigrants, he said yesterday after Ed Miliband expressed his concern over the policy.

The former prime minister said that Polish immigrants did “good work in our country” and “most sensible people” appreciated the contribution they made to Britain.

He spoke out after the current Labour leader described the relaxation of immigration controls in 2004 as a “mistake” that had undermined living standards for some working-class households.

Over the past decade, more than 700,000 Eastern Europeans have moved to Britain for work — far more than the 15,000 who were officially predicted to arrive each year.

Mr Blair said illegal immigration rather than a change in policy should be the target of action. Asked whether he had made a mistake in relaxing controls for Eastern Europeans, he said: “In some ways, I don’t regret it because the Polish community and other communities from Eastern Europe do good work in our country. I’m happy with them, [but] I understand there’s a very marked sensitivity around that.

“I think most sensible people in Britain can see immigrants have made a great contribution to our country.”

In a BBC interview, Mr Blair also indicated that he would like to return to a high-profile “public role” and said that he could have continued as prime minister. “I have always said I am a public service person first,” he said. “I would have been happy to carry on as prime minister. I would have been happy taking the job as president of the EU.”

There is growing speculation that the former Labour leader is pushing to become the next European president. After keeping a relatively low profile in Britain, Mr Blair has given two BBC interviews this month and will appear at a Labour Party fund-raiser in July.

He said Britain could still join the single currency if the problems in the eurozone were addressed and urged Germany to do more to “save” the euro.

“The only thing that will save the single currency now is a sort of grand plan in which Germany is prepared to commit its economy fully to the single currency,” Mr Blair said. “That means treating the debts of one as the debts of all, which is very hard for Germany to do.

“It means the other countries in the eurozone need to reform — need credible programmes of reform so that Europe can regain its competitiveness. Otherwise it is quite unfair to ask Germany to pay.”

Mr Blair refused to accept that the single currency’s troubles meant Britain would never join. “If they sort it all out and Europe moves forward again then Britain is going to have a very interesting choice to make,” he said.

He said he had always sought to keep Britain “very positive towards the project of European integration” and for it to be able to join the euro “at any time we wanted to do so”. He said the “broad sweep of history” showed that European integration would continue regardless of the fate of the euro. Britain needed to protect its alliance with the rest of the EU to exercise influence, he added.----

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/9352335/Tony-Blair-I-dont-regret-opening-UK-borders-to-European-immigrants.html