I AM proud of Britain’s welfare state. I am proud of our National Health Service.

And I am proud that Britain is a nation built on diversity and that so many people new to these shores work so hard to contribute to Britain, whether they are running companies, operating in our hospitals or picking vegetables (although as someone who picked strawberries during my school holidays I find it sad that British students are now apparently “too posh to pick”). But something has gone wrong with the system.

The “open door” policies of the last government and lax administration of the welfare system have created huge pressures on jobs, housing and infrastructure and means that Britain has a reputation for being the “soft touch” of Europe.

But, enough is enough. Our chaotic immigration system is being overhauled and it is working.

Since the last election, net immigration fell by almost a third in the year ending June 2012, but the numbers of skilled visa holders and students attending top class universities went up.

And last month David Cameron set out new steps to make the welfare system fairer, to reduce welfare and NHS tourism and to ensure that local councils apply a local residency test in allocating housing - something Wiltshire is already looking to do.

I welcome these commonsense measures and look forward to their rapid implementation, as I do the widespread welfare and tax reforms that will come into place in the next few weeks and will deliver tax reductions to 80 per cent of local people and make the welfare state fairer for those who receive and those who pay for benefits.

I have put more details of all of these changes on my website at claireperry.org.uk but please do contact me if you have any other questions.