Press Releases
GENEROUS UK WELFARE SYSTEM A MAGNET FOR EU WORKERS
The UK benefits system is so generous and easy to access that it is likely to prove a “magnet” to people from poorer EU countries as the economic turmoil in the region intensifies, says a new report out today.
With all movement restrictions for economic migrants from Romania and Bulgaria due to be lifted at the end of next year there is a real possibility that many thousands will come to the UK.
The report, from think-tank Migration Watch UK, has compared in detail the benefits available in the UK with those in the EU14. Crucially it also looked at how easy or difficult it is to access them.
The research shows that we have the fourth most generous system of any country in the EU in our provision of a range of benefits to low income workers. Access to unemployment benefit is also much easier and in some cases can be paid without the applicant having to make any prior contribution.
Only Luxembourg, Ireland and Denmark, with populations of 500,000, 4.5 and 5.5 million respectively, have more generous benefits than the UK but access to them is much more tightly regulated than here.
The UK is more generous than Germany and much more generous than France, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy in topping up low wages. Access to unemployment benefit is also much easier in the UK with no set time limits.
The paper examined in detail two scenarios; the first is a family made up of a worker, a spouse and two children where one adult is in work earning 50 percent of the average wage and the other adult is not working and not drawing unemployment benefits. The second scenario is a similar family where the sole earner is now unemployed.
‘We found that the UK is far more generous than most other EU countries, topping-up low wages by just over 80% through in-work and housing benefits. This makes employment in the UK a very attractive option for migrants from poorer EU member states, especially after adjusting for differences in the cost of living,’ said Sir Andrew Green, the Chairman of Migration Watch UK.
‘You can hardly blame people for taking advantage of such an incredibly open benefit system. However, the question is whether it is fair to UK tax payers to allow such generous access by people who have not paid into the system. Other EU countries police access to benefits much more effectively. It is time that the British government did the same,’ he said.
Amnesty for London’s 500,000+ Illegal Immigrants – ‘An Appallingly Bad Idea’
05 December, 2012
05 December, 2012
The Mayor of London’s remarks in India about an amnesty for illegal immigrants in the capital would be a ‘kick in the teeth’ for the many thousands of young people struggling to find a job because of the unfair competition they face, says a think tank who have today issued a report on the situation in the capital .
Boris Johnson suggested that an amnesty for illegal immigrants is somehow inevitable but, says think tank Migration Watch UK, with an estimated 500,000+ illegal immigrants in London alone such plans would be a gross betrayal of those seeking legitimately to get into the jobs market.
The report points out, that every country that has tried amnesties has found that they simply increase the number of illegals who, often correctly, have assumed that they will also be offered a further amnesty in due course.
Secondly, they reward illegal behaviour at considerable expense to the tax payers.
Even more importantly, illegal immigrants come to (or stay on in) London precisely in order to work and, often, to send money home. They mainly do low skilled work, which is exactly the kind of job that young Londoners need to get into the labour market.
To get work, illegal immigrants undercut the wages of British workers while reducing the opportunities for young Londoners. They also allow unscrupulous employers to compete unfairly with honest ones who provide decent wages and conditions.
One specific area which is highly topical at present is housing - especially social housing - where the impact of such an amnesty would be felt particularly strongly. All those granted an amnesty would be eligible for social housing and they would also have the right to bring their families to Britain. Those that had large families would move up the housing queue. A recent report from the London School of Economics assumes that only 40% would require social housing but, even on that extremely optimistic assumption, the costs of the public sector subsidy would be £6.2 billion.
It is also clear there was no public appetite for an amnesty of the kind mooted. A YouGov poll for the Sunday Times in January 2012 found that 67% believe that illegal immigrants should be deported immediately with no right of appeal. This is consistent with earlier polling.
The report recognized that it is clearly impossible to deport half a million people. It is, however, possible to discourage an illegal existence in Britain. Fines against employers for employing illegal workers should be much more vigorously enforced. Action should also be taken against those who provide accommodation for illegal immigrants. These measures, combined with the development of electronic border checking, should progressively reduce the scale of illegal immigration in Britain.
Commenting, Sir Andrew Green, Chairman of Migration Watch UK said “The problem of illegal immigration has to be tackled if opportunities for young people in Britain are to be improved. A situation in which nearly a quarter of young Londoners, and about half of young black Londoners, are unemployed simply cannot be allowed to continue. Amnesties are an appallingly bad idea. They have been a total failure in Italy and Spain; they have just sucked in more and more illegals. It is highly irresponsible to suggest that an amnesty in the UK is inevitable – especially in a country that is believed to be a major source of illegal immigrants,” he said.
Is the fall in net immigration due to a fall in student numbers?
29 November, 2012
29 November, 2012
Immigration data
The latest net migration statistics to March 2012 show a significant fall in net migration to 183,000 - a reduction of 59,000 from the figure for year ending March 2011. According to the ONS News release “this reduction in immigration was largely due to fewer people arriving to study…” In fact, the main reason was an increase in both British and non-EU emigration. There was a fall in non EU immigration but only 12,000 of this came from a reduction of non-EU student immigration.
Visa data
Separately, student visa data was also published today and is more up to date as it includes the second and third quarters of 2012. This data on applications for student visas is broken down by the type of institution; Higher education, further education, language schools and independent schools[1].
In the year ending September 2012 the total number of applications for student visas was 211,000 - a fall of 74,000 from the previous year. However, it is important to segregate the different types of institution.
This overall fall was a result of applications to further education colleges falling from almost 100,000 in the whole year ending September 2011 to 33,000 in the following year. Applications to universities (“Higher Education Institutions”) were actually up by 1% at 155,800 compared with 154,500 for the previous year.
The fall in applications to colleges reflects the tightening of the system as well as measures to tackle bogus colleges and bogus students. To the extent that the fall is due to a reduction in bogus students, net migration will be unaffected in future years as those “students” would not have left in any case.
Commenting on these figures Sir Andrew Green, Chairman of Migration Watch UK, said “This is good news. It shows that the government can bring net migration down without damaging the valuable higher education sector. The strident reaction of the universities to the government’s measures over the past year or two has done nothing to promote Britain’s reputation as a welcoming destination for study.”
Footnote: The IPS data is still useless for estimating net student immigration. These latest figures, taken at face value, would suggest that it was 157,000 in the year to Q1 2012. This is because the survey still cannot distinguish between departing students and departing workers. This deficiency is being corrected and the first estimate of net non EU student migration (for calendar 2012) will become available in August 2013.
Migration Statistics
29 November, 2012
29 November, 2012
This morning the ONS released the latest net migration statistics for the year ending March 2012, showing that net migration has fallen to 183,000 from 242,000 the previous year.
Commenting, Sir Andrew Green, Chairman of Migration Watch UK, said:
"At last we can see some light at the end of the tunnel. We can now see the first effects of the government’s measures to reduce immigration. There is a distance to go but they are on the right track."
Rule Change Opens NHS to the World
27 November, 2012
27 November, 2012
A recent government decision threatens to turn the NHS into the ‘World Health Service’ and should be rescinded as a matter of urgency, says a think tank in a report out today.
Its provisions allow illegal migrants and foreign visitors full and free access to primary care services, which can be the first step to costly and lengthy secondary treatment in hospital.
The report, from Migration Watch UK, said the decision, taken in July this year and quietly slipped out as Parliament rose for the long Summer recess, will result in primary medical care being provided to anyone in the UK, whether they are here legally or not, and regardless of whether they have made any contribution by way of tax or National Insurance.
‘At a time of intense pressure on the NHS this is an incredible decision. It is an open invitation to the whole world to come and take free advantage of a health service paid for by the taxes of the people of this country, ’ said Sir Andrew Green, Migration Watch UK chairman.’ ‘Tax payers will regard this as an insult and will want it reversed at once.’
The previous government had wanted to see a closer link between access to the NHS and UK citizenship or residency - but for six years took no action to achieve it.
‘The Coalition government eventually issued guidance in July 2012 which took the extraordinary decision to go in exactly the opposite direction by granting access to GP’s services for all foreign visitors and also to illegal immigrants,’ said Sir Andrew.
The guidance states that an overseas visitor can register with a GP provided that he or she is in the area for more than 24 hours. This applies whether or not the visitor is lawfully in the UK. A GP is paid £64 per head for each patient on his register; there is no means of knowing whether a visitor has subsequently left the UK.
The guidance further states that registration and a doctor’s appointment should not be withheld because the patient does not have proof of residence or personal identification and that past or present payment of taxes or National Insurance is not to be taken into account.
A GP practice is required to offer free treatment to anyone who requests it (if they have not been accepted on the list) if, in the opinion of a health care professional, it is immediately necessary.
All this applies to illegal immigrants but not to refugees and asylum seekers whose cases are undecided as they are not illegal immigrants and already have the right to free NHS care both by GPs and hospitals.
In respect of hospital treatment it is the duty of the hospital, not the GPs, to establish entitlement to free hospital treatment.
‘In theory, admission to hospital is a different matter,’ said Sir Andrew. ‘The new regulations make it clear that the responsibility is one for the hospitals themselves. However, a Freedom of Information Act request submitted on behalf of Henry Smith MP found that most NHS Trusts only cursorily audit the treatment of foreign nationals who are not entitled to automatic free healthcare.
‘Many hospitals do not even ask whether patients are foreign nationals. In addition, a Panorama programme broadcast in October found extensive evidence that no proper checks were made,’ he said.
‘In practice therefore there is a very good chance that someone who is not entitled to hospital care could receive extremely expensive treatment without having to pay for it.
‘The implications of these changes are wide ranging. They are an open invitation to “health tourism” at a time when the NHS is obliged to make substantial savings. Nearly eight million non EEA visitors arrive in Britain every year not to mention up to perhaps one million illegal immigrants already here,’ said Sir Andrew. ‘It cannot be right that we encourage illegal immigration in this way.
‘It will not be long before substantial numbers of visitors seek free treatment while they are here, especially if they come from countries such as the United States where most medical treatment is both private and very expensive.
‘There could also be an inflow of visitors from EU countries where health standards are not as high as in the UK. The recent rapid rise in births to mothers born in Poland could be a pointer to the future’, he said. (EU nationals who come to the UK to settle are entitled to NHS care in any case but they could now come as visitors)
‘The Government claim to be reviewing the matter but the fact is that they have already caved in to the BMA. They should now perform a very rapid ‘U’ turn on this issue and ensure that the NHS is available only to those entitled to it. It is extremely unfair that tax payers should wait in a queue behind those who have never contributed and never will.”
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