Friday, 7 September 2012



A selection of recent media reports

Picking on foreign students
A case of xenophobic populism that will harm one of Britain's long-term competitive advantages
The Economist (06-Sep-2012)
Soames raises immigration concerns
"Heads must come out of the sand" about the scale of immigration to Britain, a Conservative MP has said. Nicholas Soames,
Belfast Telegraph (06-Sep-2012)
Illegal immigrant jailed for possessing false passport
AN illegal immigrant who used a forged passport as proof of his identity when he began renting his home in St
Stratford Herald (06-Sep-2012)
Exclude overseas students from net migration figures, say MPs
The Government's commitment to cut net migration to the tens of thousands is threatening the UK'
London Evening Standard (06-Sep-2012)
Analysis: No obvious answers to Britain's immigration headache
Follow alex__stevenson Knock on your average door in these Great British Isles and ask some
Politics.co.uk (06-Sep-2012)
Take students out of immigration figures say MPs ahead of debate on 70m population
Students should be removed from immigration statistics, MPs have claimed ahea
Telegraph.co.uk (06-Sep-2012)
Exclude overseas students from migration count, say MPs
The government needs to reclassify international students so that they don't count towards net
BBC News - Education & Family (06-Sep-2012)
MPs eye student migration changes
The Government's commitment to cut net migration to the tens of thousands is threatening the UK's ability to expand its shar
Liverpool Daily Post.co.uk (06-Sep-2012)
Britain faces mass immigration havoc, warn two top MPs
BRITAIN faces havoc unless mass immigration is slashed, two top MPs warn today.
The Scottish Sun (06-Sep-2012)
There's a lot of it about, warns ex-Home Office director over visa problems
Visa compliance problems similar to those discovered at London Metropolitan Univer
Times Higher Education (06-Sep-2012)
Forest of Dean MP Mark Harper new Immigration Minister in reshuffle
PRIME Minister David Cameron has appointed Forest of Dean MP Mark Harper as Minister for Immigra
This is Gloucestershire (05-Sep-2012)
Act now... or say goodbye to the Britain we know
The public are fed up with mass immigration. That was the message of the public petition on the Downing Street website lau
Mail Online (05-Sep-2012)
Immigration debate
Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Watch live coverage of MPs taking part in a backbench business debate on im
BBC News (05-Sep-2012)
MAN JAILED FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION RACKET
A man who was caught on camera saying he could smuggle people into the UK and set up sham weddings, has been jailed for nearly fi
Sunrise Radio (05-Sep-2012)

Student was deported as reprieve went unheeded
A student was deported to India despite a judge issuing an 11th-hour order that his removal should be postponed.
This is Leicestershire (05-Sep-2012)


Press Releases

70 Million a Vital Aiming Mark
6 September, 2012
The Migration Observatory has today published a report attacking the concept of a population target of 70 million and questioning whether it can be achieved.
They accept that immigration accounts for 68% of our population growth and that the latest official projection will take the UK’s population to 70 million in 15 years.
The government is now on course for net migration of 100,000 a year.   The only question, given that the rules cannot be changed for those already here, is precisely when it will be achieved.   A further reduction to 50,000 would depend on net EU migration coming back towards balance as it always has in the past.   This is perfectly possible in the medium term, given the fall in the birth rate in many EU countries and the likelihood that some of the East European economies will eventually improve.
Commenting, Sir Andrew Green, Chairman, Migration Watch UK said “Yet again the Migration Observatory seem to be beating the drum for the immigration industry.  They cannot get it into their heads that we are a democracy and that there is an overwhelming public demand to reduce immigration.  Net migration from 1990-96 averaged 39,000 a year before New Labour opened the floodgates (see graph below). That is roughly the level needed to hold our population below 70 million and it should now become the objective of policy.  It is a vital aiming mark”.
Net Migration Figure for 2011
30 August, 2012
Commenting on today's net migration figure for 2011, Sir Andrew Green said :
“These figures are a disappointment. Net migration remains far too high. Today’s numbers underline the huge difficulty of getting immigration back under control after thirteen years of chaos. The government is on the right track and numbers will come down in future years. Meanwhile, the government must ensure that they pursue the national interest ahead of vested interests. They now need a blitz on bogus students and much tougher action on enforcement and removal. For too many years we have had only a token effort at tackling illegal immigration.”
Are Foreign Students Worth £12 Billion a Year? 
30 August, 2012
The NUS are now claiming a figure of £12.5 billion as the benefit of foreign students. The universities lobby has previously bandied about the figure of £8 billion. The implication is that this valuable sector of our economy is somehow being put at risk as a result of tightening the immigration regulations for foreign students.
That figure was based on 2008/9 but a study by Migration Watch UK released todayshows that the true level of benefit to the UK’s foreign exchange earnings in that year was more like £4.3 billion. This is just over 1% of the total – and only a small part of this would be at risk from tightening up the immigration system. Adjusting for inflation and the increase in the number of students gives a figure of £5.76 billion for 2010/11.
The study found that the BIS report which produced the original figure of £8 billion is very misleading in this context because:
- It is an assessment of the value of the entire sector – not just of foreign students.
- It included EU students who, of course, are not subject to immigration policy
- and it ignored the fact that many international students work part time to cover their living costs.
The Migration Watch UK report also looked at claims that the sector will be “worth” £17 billion in 2025. This, however, depends on a still further massive increase in student numbers that will, because of the proportion that stay on, seriously undermine the government’s immigration policy.
Commenting, Sir Andrew Green, Chairman of Migration Watch UK, said “Some inflated figures have been circulated about the economic value of foreign students. The number of student immigrants has increased by 59% since the new Points Based System was introduced and there is crystal clear evidence of substantial abuse. The government are absolutely right to crack down on this. Looking ahead, the financial interests of the universities cannot be allowed to destroy the government’s immigration objectives which are so widely supported by the public”.
Notes to Editors: Data from the International Passenger Survey shows that in 2008 126,000 students were recorded as coming to the UK for a year or more for the purposes of study. In the year ending September 2011 this has risen to 201,000.

Posted by Britannia Radio at 08:34