Britannia Radio

Briefing Paper

Immigration and Public Debt – Comment on the OBR’s Sustainability Report 2013
14th August, 2013

Summary

1. The recent OBR report was deeply misleading on immigration because it:

• chose for the summary an entirely theoretical scenario.
• made no assessment of the government’s actual policy; indeed, the general effect was to misrepresent it.
• made no mention of the population impact of its central case which would add 15 million to our population in mid-century of whom 10 million would be due to immigration.
• gave inadequate weight to the fact that immigrants also get older so that any effect can only be temporary, requiring ever - more immigration in later years to maintain the same age-structure.
• assumed no change in participation rates or pension ages.
• ignored the wider costs of high levels of immigration and made no mention of the social and environmental impacts.

To see the full Briefing Paper No 1.36 click here.

Press Releases

Chris Bryant’s Speech
12th August, 2013

Commenting on Chris Bryant’s Immigration speech, Sir Andrew Green, Chairman of Migration Watch UK said:

"Chris Bryant's speech ducks the main issue.  It says little about the level of immigration or how Labour intends to bring it down after allowing the total to reach four million on their watch. We can all agree about young unemployed local workers being given a fairer crack of the whip but he failed to say how he will do it."

Comment on ONS Mid-Year 2012 Population Estimate
8th August, 2013

Commenting on the figures Mr Alp Mehmet, Vice Chairman of Migration Watch UK said:

"The ONS figures clearly show that immigration is the main driver of population growth in the UK. Net immigration to the UK in the year to June 2012 was 165,000, 40% of the total figure.

The figures also show a rapid increase in the babies born to foreign born mothers which now account for over a quarter of the total while births to UK born mothers are remaining static. These figures have a significant bearing on future needs like school places and housing as well as services.

This is why the government has to stay the course in its efforts to bring immigration under control."

Chief Inspector of Immigration: Report on Juxtaposed Controls
8th August, 2013

Commenting on the report, Mr Alp Mehmet, Vice Chariman of Migration Watch UK said:

"The Chief Inspector is right to point to inadequate Border Force resources, especially at Calais. It is time the government accepted that an effective border control can't be had on the cheap and allocate sufficient resources to address an issue of significant public concern.? Security concerns may have led to some of the redactions in the report but it is difficult to see this as the reason for all of them. Transparency has to be the best policy, if only to show that the Home Office has nothing to hide."