A new report out today estimates that the influx of East Europeans coming to work in the UK will come broadly into balance within the next three years. Thereafter, most immigration will be from outside the EU and could therefore be controlled if the government had the political will to do so.
‘The impression is being carefully fostered that, since numbers from Eastern Europe are now declining, the public need no longer have concerns about UK immigration levels. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, East Europeans have never accounted for more than a third of the total,’ said Sir Andrew Green, chairman of Migrationwatch on the publication of its latest report.
‘The government are carrying out a major reform of the immigration system but its central feature, the Points Based System, does not limit immigration and is not even intended to do so. The latest population estimates confirm that, in the next 25 years, we will have to build seven cities the size of Birmingham just for new immigrants. This cannot be allowed to continue unchecked,’ said Sir Andrew.