Romsey Town Hall was the surprise choice of venue for Prime Minister David Cameron’s keynote speech on immigration yesterday (Thursday).

There was a heavy police presence in the Market Place from early in the morning. A small crowd gathered, hoping to catch a glimpse of Mr Cameron, but they were disappointed, as he arrrived and departed via back door.

Speaking to an invited audience of Conservative party activists, the PM called for for “good immigration, not mass immigration”.

Mr Cameron claimed that, between 1997 and 2009, net immigration reached 2.2 million – '”the largest influx of people Britain has ever had”.

Schools and hospitals had struggled with the numbers, while communities where immigrants were unable to speak English or unwilling to integrate had suffered from “discomfort and disjointedness”, he said.

He accused Labour of inflaming the debate by “talking tough”, but failing to act. Welfare reform was the key to stemming the immigration tide, said Mr Cameron.

Although three-quarters of the 2.5 million jobs created in the British economy since 1997 had been taken by foreign workers, it was “not a case of immigrants coming over here and taking our jobs”, he said.

“The real issue is this: migrants are filling gaps in the labour market left wide open by a welfare system that for years has paid British people not to work. That’s where the blame lies – at the door of our woeful welfare system, and the last government who comprehensively failed to reform it.”

The PM then revealed plans for new Entrepreneur Visa as part of the Government’s effort to “roll out the red carpet for anyone who has a great business idea and serious investment”.

Meanwhile, colleges would only be able to offer degree-level courses to students with a “proper grasp” of English, while only postgraduates would be allowed to bring their dependants to the UK.

Foreign students will not be allowed to work during their time in the UK, with only those offered a graduate-level skilled job with a minimum salary allowed to remain in the country as part of a package of measures designed to cut the number of student visas issued by 80,000 a year.

This was Mr Cameron’s second visit to Romsey in little over 12 months. He brought his election campaign to the Cornmarket last year, when he was heckled by a campaigner on schools policy.

It is believed that Mr Cameron is the first serving prime minister to have spoken in the town hall.

Its choice came as shock to Romsey Town Council.

“We weren’t actually asked about it until Wednesday afternoon, when we Continued on page 2 got a phone call asking if the hall was free and luckily it was, said town clerk Judith Giles.

“If it wasn’t we would have had to have said ‘no’ because someone else would have already paid for the hire and we couldn’t have let them down at the last minute, so it was lucky for both parties really.

“I think it’s great for the town that Mr Cameron chose to come here. It certainly created a lot of excitement, which we don’t get very much of in Romsey!

“It was great to have the crowds assembling outside and have so much interest from local people in the visit.

“The feedback we have had from the Prime Minister’s office so far has been brilliant too. They were more than happy with the venue and said that they would gladly use it again in the future.