Foreigners flock in as British jobless hits 10-year high

The number of foreigners working in Britain shot up by 214,000 in the last three months of 2008 to 3.8million. At the same time, the total of UK-born people in work fell by 278,000 to 25.6million.

The trend was revealed in statistics showing unemployment at a 10 year high, at 1.97million, in what the TUC called "a national emergency".

Mr Brown said every job loss brought "sadness and sorrow", but pledged to do all he could to get people back to work as quickly as possible.

But Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Theresa May said: "Gordon Brown has repeatedly failed hard-working families across the country. These figures once again expose what a cynical piece of political spin the Prime Minister's claim of 'British jobs for British workers' was.

"Labour failed to tackle the skills gap in the economy when unemployment was rising and now the public are paying the price."

More than 400 job seekers queued outside London Zoo yesterday for the chance to land one of the 50 summer jobs on offer.

Sir Andrew Green, chairman of MigrationWatch UK, said the ranks of non-UK workers had doubled under Labour and he called for a "sharp reduction" in the number of non-EU workers allowed in as the recession bites deeper.

"Ministers keep telling us that they will toughen up the controls, but so far have done nothing. When will words turn into action?"

Immigration Minister Phil Woolas forecast that the number of non-UK workers would fall, but there would be a "time lag" before that showed up in figures. "If you've come in to work on a temporary visa you're not going to be made redundant, but your contract isn't necessarily going to be renewed, " said Mr Woolas.

Britain is powerless to stop people from other EU countries coming here to work. But the Prime Minister insisted the points-based system for those from outside Europe would bar unskilled workers "unless they have a contribution to make".