Migration Watch UK: News

Lib Dems Talk Tough on Immigration – But Their Actual Policies Would be "Disastrous"

The Liberal Democrats immigration policy sounds tough but, in reality, is no better than the government’s "open door immigration policy" that has seen the biggest wave of immigration in our history, says a new report out today.

The policy was the first of the major parties to be scrutinised in detail by think-tank Migrationwatch as the parties set out their stalls for the upcoming general election.

‘The Lib Dems realise that this is an issue of deep public concern which could well affect the way people vote,’ said Sir Andrew Green, Migrationwatch chairman. ‘They therefore want to give the impression of proposing firm and decisive action - but, sadly this is entirely hollow. For all their tough talk, their policies will make little or no difference to the numbers coming to the UK.

The paper summarised Liberal Democrat policies as having three main strands - an emphasis on "control", a scheme for directing immigration to certain regions and support for illegal immigrants to be allowed to "earn regularisation".

See the Full Press Release.

Migration: An Economic and Social Analysis

TITLE PAGE AND EXECUTIVE SUMMARY of a joint research study by the Home Office Economics and Resources Analysis Unit and the Cabinet Office Performance and Innovation Unit.

This document was given restricted circulation in October 2000 and was obtained by Migration Watch in January 2010 under a Freedom of Information Act request to the Cabinet Office.

(The full text which runs to 81 pages could presumably be obtained from the Cabinet Office).

See Migration Watch's full Press Release.

Paying the price for a decade of deception

By Sir Andrew Green
Chairman of Migration Watch UK
The Daily Mail, London, 10 February 2010

So there was indeed a Labour conspiracy to change the nature of our society by mass immigration.

New evidence confirms claims made by a Labour political adviser last October which he subsequently tried to recant.

In an article for the Evening Standard, Andrew Neather revealed that ‘it didn’t just happen: the deliberate policy of ministers from late 2000 until at least February last year ...was to open up the UK to mass migration’.

He went on to describe a Government policy document which he had helped to write in 2000.

He said that ‘drafts were handed out in summer 2000 only with extreme reluctance: there was paranoia about it reaching the media’.

The paper eventually surfaced as a purely technical product of the research department of the Home Office but earlier drafts that he saw ‘included a driving political purpose: that mass immigration was the way that the Government was going to make the UK truly multicultural’.

We in Migrationwatch have now obtained an earlier draft of that policy paper, circulated in October 2000.

The full article is on the Press Articles page on Migrationwatch web site.

The Key: Ethnic Communities Vote Heavily for Labour

By Sir Andrew Green,
Chairman, Migration Watch UK
The Daily Telegraph, 10 February, 2010

I rubbed my eyes with disbelief when I saw an article by Andrew Neather, a former speech writer for Blair, Blunkett and Straw, saying that mass immigration “didn’t just happen: the deliberate policy of Ministers from late 2000 … was to open up the UK to mass immigration”.

At last the truth was out. The public have known for years that we were building problems for ourselves but somehow it wasn’t quite respectable to mention it in polite company.

All that is changing fast as people wake up to the fact that we are now on course for a population of 70 million in 20 years’ time.

The Labour years have already seen an extra three million immigrants in Britain. If you add subsequent children, you are looking at the equivalent of half the population of London. These are just the official figures. Estimates of the number of illegal immigrants range up to another one million.

How could this have happened in the face of growing public opposition? Was it a cock-up or a conspiracy?

The full article is on the Press Articles page of Migrationwatch web site.

Only Severe Cuts to Immigration will Stop Population Hitting 70 million well within 25 Years

Even if the birth rate were to drop to levels not seen for 100 years the UK population is almost bound to hit 70m within 25 years unless there is a dramatic cut in immigration levels, says a new report out yesterday.

An analysis of the Government’s own figures – issued on the eve of a speech by the Home Secretary on immigration and population - clearly shows that, even on such an unlikely birth rate, currently projected levels of immigration will cause the population of the UK to reach 70 million shortly after 2031 and then go on growing.

'The Government is trying to suggest that a fall in the birth rate might keep our population below 70 million. They are desperate not to admit that their policies will mean a population increase to this unprecedented figure because they know it is of enormous concern to a great many people. Yet once again their own figures trip them up and no amount of obfuscation will disguise the facts,’ said Sir Andrew Green, chairman of think-tank Migrationwatch which carried out the research into the official figures.

The report points out that the latest (2008-based) Office for National Statistics (ONS) population projections clearly show the population of the UK reaching 70 million in 2029. The government suggests that such projections are unreliable partly because changes in the birth rate are unpredictable.

However, apart from the “baby boom” of the 1960s when the fertility rate for the UK peaked at 2.95, it has fluctuated between quite narrow limits since the mid 1970s. Since 2001 it has been increasing, partly because of immigration.

Having lost all the other arguments the Government are now cynically suggesting that the ONS population projections cannot be relied upon as an indication of future trends. Our paper nails this last gasp strategy and demonstrates yet again why a severe cut in immigration is urgently required,’ said Sir Andrew

‘If the Tories are serious about immigration it will be in the manifesto’

Commentary

By Sir Andrew Green
Chairman of Migration Watch UK

The Times, London, 11 January, 2010

It was good to see an Archbishop give the political system a hefty kick last week. Lord Carey’s courageous intervention in support of the cross-party group called Balanced Migration certainly caught the attention of the public and gave a huge boost to their campaign to get immigration down close to the level of emigration.

He has moved the debate forwards. Instead of the usual accusations of racism there is now a more reasoned acceptance by the political class that current rates of immigration into Britain are unsustainable.

They are stressing our public services and straining our social cohesion. Now we have David Cameron saying that he does not support the idea of a 70 million population. He wants to see immigration kept within the tens of thousands. This is a significant development. He does not make stray remarks on this subject.

Indeed, he has hardly mentioned it since a major speech on population two years ago.

Nobody, least of all Mr Cameron, challenges the reality that immigrants have made a major contribution to our society. It is the recent scale of immigration that is the problem.

The latest population projections from the Office for National Statistics show that the UK’s population will reach 70 million in 20 years’ time and that just over two thirds of this increase will be because of immigration.

The Government claims that it will never happen but ONS forecasts are much better than the Met Office. Over the past 50 years their 20-year projections have been accurate to 2.5 per cent. Ministers also claim that immigration is coming down, partly due to their Points Based System. But the fall is almost entirely due to more East Europeans going home while three quarters of the PBS are student applications, which are riddled with fraud. The only means open to the Government to limit population is to limit immigration. If the Tory leader is serious he will put it into his party's election manifesto – and it will be hugely popular.

Massive Increase in Family Visitors - Appeals Now Cost Tax Payers £1 Million a Week

Appeals against the decision of immigration officials to refuse family visas to enter the UK have increased eight fold since charges were abolished by the government in 2002 and are now running at over a thousand a week. They cost the taxpayer £1m a week, says a report from think-tank Migrationwatch.

Unlike ordinary visitors, "family visitors" have a right of appeal but the definition of "family" includes first cousins, uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces etc.

The report notes that there has been a huge increase in applications in recent years. Last year, just three countries - India, Pakistan and Nigeria - produced nearly 200,000 applications between them.

Said Migrationwatch Chairman, Sir Andrew Green. 'The government talk up their so-called tough points based system for work permits but leave gaping holes elsewhere. They have ducked the issue of family visitors for years. Obviously, family members should be able to visit relatives in Britain but such visits need to be properly regulated. There is a clear risk that, once here, some of these visitors will stay on illegally knowing that the chance of being removed is remote. Furthermore, in current financial circumstances, it is no longer acceptable that taxpayers should pay the appeal costs for foreign nationals wishing to visit Britain. The definition of a family visitor is so wide that it could include as many as 120 relatives of a middle aged person in Britain. It should be narrowed and charges which the government abolished in 2002 should be re-introduced.

Sir Andrew said that urgent changes were required:

a   Fees should be re-instated. There is no reason why the British tax payer should pay the appeal costs of foreign visitors.

b   The definition should be substantially tightened, at least until exit controls are in place. In particular, uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces, and first cousins should no longer be included. This would reduce the number of eligible relatives by up to 68.

c   The right to sponsor family visitors should be confined to British citizens. The relatives of others should apply as ordinary visitors.

d   In cases of doubt, there should be provision for sponsors to deposit a bond, if they so wished, to guarantee the departure of their relative.

New poll shows seven out of ten want immigration slashed

75% worried about impact immigration is having on Britain,5% are pleased. Nearly 2/3rds of Labour voters want immigration sharply cut.

On the day that new Government statistics show that immigration in 2008 was 163,000, a new YouGov poll for Migrationwatch UK reveals the vast majority of the public are concerned about immigration and want it cut substantially so that the UK’s population does not hit 70 million in 2029, as official figures project.

To avoid the population hitting 70 million, net migration needs to be cut to 50,000 a year, a cut of 113,000 from the latest figure.

The YouGov poll found that 72% want it cut to 50,000 or less. Nearly two thirds of people (62%) who say they would vote Labour or Liberal Democrat want immigration cut to 50,000 or less.

The poll reveals the public’s lack of trust in the Government on an issue which most people find worrying. 77% of people disagree that the Government is open and honest about the scale of immigration into Britain: only a third (32%)of those who say they would vote Labour agree the Government is open and honest. 76% of people are worried about the impact that immigration is having on Britain. The region where concern is greatest is the North of England, where 80% are worried compared to just over two thirds in London. Just 5% of respondents said they were “pleased” about the impact immigration is having on Britain.

Sir Andrew Green, Chairman of Migrationwatch UK said:

‘The government claim that their policies are contributing to a fall in immigration and that our population will not reach 70 million but very few believe them, and rightly so. We are firmly on track for three million immigrants under this government yet their much trumpeted Points Based System only applies to one in five of those permitted to enter Britain and has no limits whatever. Today’s immigration figures confirm that unless we change direction, immigration will add another seven million to our population in the next 25 years – that’s equivalent to seven cities the size of Birmingham. With the prime minister yet again ruling out any cap on numbers at the CBI conference, the Government has demonstrated just how out of touch it is with the views of the British people.

'Clearly, immigration is still out of control. The time has come for politicians of all parties to level with the public and make a clear commitment to hold immigration well below 50,000 a year.’

Immigration Figures Due for Release on 26 November 2009

Background Briefing

Annual immigration figures for calendar 2008, the last before the election, will be published by the ONS on Thursday 26 November. The note (Briefing Paper 9.26)puts the figures, and Government claims about their immigration policy, into perspective.

We expect the net immigration figure to be about 150,000 compared to 237,000 for 2007 – a drop of 37%.

The reason has very little to do with government policy. 75% of the drop is due to more East Europeans going home.

Contrary to government claims, the new immigration figures have already been largely factored into the latest ONS population projections which point to a UK population of 70 million in 2029.

The projections show no sign of the population increase starting to slow down as the Immigration Minister has claimed. To the contrary, they show continued rapid growth.

The figures will confirm that we are on track for over 3 million immigrants under Labour – even that is not counting illegal immigrants.

Sir Andrew Green: The Government's Points Based immigration system is a potential disaster

Ministers have perfected a patter when talking about immigration. “We’re sorry – we’ve made mistakes, but we’re now getting it under control with our new, tough, Australian-style Points Based System”, they say. Last week, in his first speech on immigration in two years, Gordon Brown trumpeted the merits of the Points Based System (PBS) for immigration and citizenship. He claimed that "together they constitute a fundamental reform of a decade's old system - a reform founded on the British values of personal responsibility and civic duty."

Read the full article