A majority of Britons believe that economic migrants - unskilled as well as those with skills that the country is lacking - should be legally welcome to live in Britain, an opinion poll showed today.
The ICM survey for the
Guardian
newspaper also showed that the Conservatives had lost their lead on asylum-seekers - the one major issue on which they were ahead of Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour government.
The poll will be a blow to the Conservatives, who turned to the highly-charged issue of asylum on Friday to revive their flagging fortunes in the run-up to Britain's June 7 general election.
The poll showed that 51 per cent of voters would support allowing unskilled economic migrants into Britain as long as it was done on a quota basis, such as the US green card system or Canada's points scheme.
Demand for the abolition of all immigration controls had little support among voters however, with only 18 per cent in favour of the idea and 76 per cent against.