LONDON: Britain’s coalition government was bitterly divided over immigration on Thursday after the Conservative minister in charge of the issue accused Business Secretary Vince Cable from the Liberal Democrats of asserting “falsehoods” about the impact of immigrant labour.

The row between Immigration Minister James Brokenshire and Cable erupted as an official government study concluded there was “relatively little evidence” that migrant workers had taken the jobs of Britons when the economy was strong.

The review said there was evidence of “some labour market displacement” during the recession.

But it also found there was little evidence that immigrants from the European Union had an impact on the employment of British workers, although it was a “relatively recent phenomenon” and “this does not imply that impacts do not occur in some circumstances”.

Cable, a leading figure in the junior coalition partners, has said he is “intensely relaxed” about mass immigration and is expected to condemn “scare stories” about the issue when he gives a speech later on Thursday.—AFP