Tracking the migration figures

Letter by Sir Andrew Green
The Sunday Times, London, 11 September 2005


Sir,

Last week’s Institute of Public Policy Research report on the pattern of immigration to Britain carefully avoided the key point – the massive rise in immigration in recent years.

Net immigration has trebled under the present government. According to its own population forecast it will add 5m to our population over the next 30 years – or five times the city of Birmingham. It will also account for 84% of our population growth if the children of immigrants are included, as they should be.

Immigration is now averaging more than 200,000 a year. This is unprecedented. The East African Asians – an oft-quoted success story – were only 27,000. We are now taking eight times that number every year.

How can we integrate people at this pace, especially as 70% of the net inflow of foreign citizens are from the distant cultures of Asia and Africa? And where are we going to put the extra 1.2 million homes needed over the next 20 years? The government claims that we need them for our economy. But, with a British work force of 27m the government should be training our own people. Our immigration policy makes no sense. The public can see that. That is why 70% believe too many immigrants coming to Britain – including, interestingly, 60% of Asians.

The public has never been properly informed, still less consulted. The dismissive and patronising tone of the minister, and other members of the immigration lobby last week seems to be the only answer they have to the concerns we are expressing on behalf of the vast majority of the British people.

© Copyright of Sir Andrew Green
Chairman Migrationwatch UK

The Sunday Times, London, 11 September, 2005

http://www.sundaytimes.co.uk