Mayor Wonders Whether Natives of London Lack Job Skills

Casting a shadow on the job skills of Londoners, Mayor Boris Johnson has wondered whether people born in the city can battle against newcomers.

"Look at Pret A Manger. If you've been to Pret A Manger recently, how many native Londoners served you? What's going on? We want to address that problem. Somehow or other, it strikes me that young people growing up in this city who are born here are not necessarily getting the encouragement, the skills, the work ethic, that they might. Or the ability to cope with work, the desire to do the job - whatever it is, there's something missing. I don't know what it is. I don't have the answer. They need to be given the skills to compete," Johnson was quoted by the Guardian after his brief press conference at Westminster Tuesday.

He said if one went to the cafes, restaurants and shops in London, he or she would find that jobs were offered to people from all over the world. Was it because the native Londoners were incapable of performing their jobs or they were too lazy to put an effort, Johnson asked.

Meanwhile, Migration Watch UK launched an e-petition on Tuesday, calling on the government to stabilize the country's population and keep it well below the 70 million mark.

"Labour permitted foreign immigration of over 3 million in the face of strongly opposed public opinion", said Sir Andrew Green, chairman of Migration Watch UK.