On the 10 o’clock TV news on 30 April, the BBC “Reality Check” claimed that, in 2008, there was a net outflow of non EU workers of 8,000 so the real pressure on British jobs was from a net inflow of 46,000 EU workers which none of the parties had any plans to control. To do so Britain would have to leave the EU – a policy advocated only by UKIP and the BNP.
The real situation is that about 100,000 non EU workers arrived in that year (including an estimate for dependants). The available statistics do not reliably indicate how many left. The proportion of those arriving was almost double the BBCs figure. A full explanation is below.
Commenting, Sir Andrew Green, Chairman Migrationwatch UK, said :
“The BBC of all people should get their facts right on a subject as sensitive as immigration, especially when they describe their report as a “reality check”. It would have helped if they had paid more attention to immigration policy in the past.”
Notes to Editors:
1. The news clip can be found at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8655599.stm
2. The relevant ONS table is at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markeaston/migration_by_reason.xls
3. The Migration Advisory Committee report is at: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/workingwithus/mac/pbsanalysis-09/041209/mac-december-09?view=Binary