Migration Watch UK: News

Major parties help fringe groups with their silence on immigration. Immigration largely ignored in main manifestos

The three main parties are once again ignoring widespread public concern about the number of immigrants allowed into the UK in their manifestos for next week's European elections.

An analysis of the parties' manifestos on this highly sensitive issue - consistently rated among the top three concerns of the public for a number of years - finds no hint of any desire for an open and frank discussion, let alone any meaningful commitment to bring down the highest immigration levels in our history. The analysis was prepared by think tank Migrationwatch.

'Only last week a YouGov poll showed that more than 7 out of 10 adults want immigration cut by over 80%,' said Chairman Sir Andrew Green.....

See the full text of this Press Release.

Public want a massive cut in immigration. Nearly 80 per cent concerned about the issue.

A 7 out of 10 adults want immigration cut by over 80%. Just 1 in 20 adults support the current level.

The YouGov poll, which was commissioned by Migrationwatch for the Cross Party Group on Balanced Migration, found that 79 per cent of people were “concerned” or “very concerned” about the issue of immigration.

Net foreign immigration – the number of immigrants minus the number of emigrants – has run at about 300,000 a year for the last five years.

See the full Press Release for the YouGov poll.

Immigration to account for a new household every 6 minutes

Government projections issued this week confirm that net immigration is now the largest single influence on household formation in England, accounting for very nearly 4 in 10 new households (39%).

The projections show that, over the 25 years from 2006 to 2031, immigration will account for an extra 99,000 households a year - or one every six minutes. This means an extra 2.5 million households by the end of the period out of a total of 6.3 million new households, or nearly 40%. These households would not be formed if immigration was in balance with emigration.

The figures also show a substantial increase of 15% in the number of households expected to be formed in England by 2031 compared to the last estimate which was made only a couple of years ago in 2006. There are large upward revisions for the North East (33%) Yorkshire and the Humber (30%), and the East Midlands (21%). The West Midlands and the East are both revised up by 16% while the South East and South West are increased by about 10%.(see the table below).

Commenting, Sir Andrew Green, Chairman of Migrationwatch UK said, "Yet again the government have tried to bury the true picture in the middle of a 17 page statistical release but they cannot conceal the fact that immigration will have a massive impact on housing demand and therefore on our whole quality of life and our environment. It is time that the government faced up to the facts and brought immigration under control instead of seeking to camouflage the true position."

Table 8: 2006-based projections compared with revised 2004-based projections, by English region

thousands	2006-based projection	2004-based projection	Difference
	Average annual change 2006 – 2026	Average annual change 2006 – 2026
North East	9	6	2
North West	28	26	3
Yorkshire & The Humber	31	23	7
East Midlands	28	22	6
West Midlands	22	18	3
East	34	30	5
London	34	33	1
South East	40	36	4
South West	32	29	3
England	258	223	35

 

 

 

The Independent - Another Apology

"For a second time The Independent has been obliged to apologise and pay damages and costs to Sir Andrew Green, Chairman of Migrationwatch. This is despite the fact that on the first occasion, in February 2008, their apology recognised explicitly that "Sir Andrew Green and Migrationwatch, the think-tank he founded, are entitled to put forward an approach to immigration which differs from view put forward in this newspaper. We accept that language on this subject should be temperate and appropriate on all sides and apologise to Sir Andrew Green".

On this second occasion, their apology read as follows;

"In her column, "These bigots imperil our nation's future"(29 September 2008)Yasmin Alibhai-Brown referred to Sir Andrew Green, of Migrationwatch, in discussing the British Council's report on British and Italian young people's views on National Identity and Europe. She alleged that Sir Andrew Green is "gleeful" that the result showed that one in four Britains is fearful of migrants and that this outcome is the result of his campaigning. These allegations are untrue and we apologise to Sir Andrew".

Commenting, Sir Andrew Green repeated that it was particularly important in this debate to use measured language.

Immigration: BBC Radio 4: Beyond Westminster

Radio 4's Beyond Westminster (1100 hrs – 1130 hrs Saturday, 10 January 2009) discussed whether the record levels of immigrants are something to be celebrated or deplored and how far things will be changed by the looming recession

The BBC's Andrew Rawnsley first questioned Migrationwatch's Chairman, Sir Andrew Green, about why his organisation is alarmed at the projections for a British population of 70 million by 2031. He then spoke to Tim Finch of the left-of centre think tank, the Institute for Public Policy Research about IPPR's views on the Government's immigration policy. Finally, he talked to Simon Darby, Deputy Leader of the British National Party who explained why the BNP wants immigration stopped.

Mr Rawnsley then explored the arguments with three politicians: Phil Woolas, (Lab) Immigration Minister, Damien Green (Cons) Shadow Minister for Immigration and Chris Huhne, LibDem's chief spokesman on Home Affairs.

It is possible to Listen Again to the programme.

Population out of control: Why present policies cannot keep our population even to 70 million

Summary

The government have assured the public that the population of the UK will not be allowed to reach 70 million and that their new Points Based System (PBS) will ensure that this is achieved. Unfortunately, this cannot possibly be so........

Conclusion

……Last year the PBS would have only stopped 11,500 migrants out of 237,000 arriving in the UK.

. It is quite clear that the PBS in its present form will not, of itself, be remotely enough to keep the population of the UK below 70 million. This is not surprising since it does not place overall limits on immigration, and was never intended to do so. It remains to be seen whether the Government will take serious measures, including a much tougher version of the points based system, to limit the impact of immigration on our population. There is no evidence of this so far.

Read the full text of this Briefing Paper 9.21 on population projections which was prepared by Migrationwatch at the request of the Cross Party Group on Balanced Migration.

Cross Party Group Aim for 'Balanced Migration'

The first cross party group of parliamentarians to address how immigration into the UK can be brought back under control has been formed at Westminster.

Headed by two distinguished former ministers, Frank Field, Labour, and Nicholas Soames, Conservative, it is the first time in British political history that parliamentarians from the two main parties have come together to stimulate public debate on the issue and put forward practical solutions.

Under the ‘Balanced Migration’ banner they seek to persuade the Government that, over time, immigration should be brought substantially lower until it is close to the rate of emigration. This would stabilise the UK’s population and greatly reduce the pressures on public services and society.

Their approach, which has widespread public support, aims to ensure that as a nation we strike the right balance between creating a competitive economy with a flexible workforce, and relieving the burdens that uncontrolled immigration is placing upon our society.

Full details can be seen at Balanced Migration.

The Business Visitor Scheme under the Points Based System

Migrationwatch called yesterday for much tougher rules on business visitors. The new rules are far too lax and, in particular, permit unlimited secondment of foreign employees to Britain

Commenting, the Chairman, Sir Andrew Green, said "The Government scrabbled to produce these rules only days before the system goes live. Far from being "tough" the rules for business visitors drive a coach and horses through the entire work permit system. Now any foreign company with a contract with a British company can send as many seconded staff as they wish for periods of six months each. This could easily be used to replace more expensive British workers as the recession bites. The Government must think again and take urgent measures to put proper controls in place."

How many more people can our small island take? As population heads towards 70 million has the penny dropped for Labour?

By Sir Andrew Green, Chairman, Migration Watch UK.

The issues around immigration are steadily becoming clearer as successive government smoke screens are blown away by the cool wind of logic.

New immigration figures being published by the Government today will confirm that very high levels of immigration are continuing at about 200,000 a year.

In recent weeks, the penny has finally dropped in government circles that immigration is having a huge impact on our population. This is not a matter of speculation.

Getting too crowded? The UK population is on course to hit 70 million unless effective measures are taken

The Government's own projections show that the UK population will reach 70 million in 20 years'time.

To read the full text of this article see Press Articles on Migration Watch UK's web site.

Toughening the Points Based System

With unemployment climbing fast, it is no longer acceptable that jobs which have never been advertised in Britain should be offered to economic migrants. Nor should migrants be admitted without a job to go to. The total of these categories is at least 75,000 jobs a year and probably a good deal more. These arrangements should be suspended while the recession lasts.

It is not generally realised that a significant number of work permits are issued to foreign economic migrants without the job being advertised in Britain or in the EU and that a considerable number of economic migrants are admitted without a job to go to.

To see the full text of this document go to Migrationwatch's Briefing Paper 3.5.