Potentially more effective scaremongering today from Ian Duncan Smith. The work and pensions secretary said the deal showed Britain still had no controls over its borders. Duncan Smith has warned the prime minister in private that a failure to control immigration would only encourage the equivalent of the French Front National. (frightening indeed) Duncan Smith added that the deal would do nothing to bring down net immigration. 'If you do not control your borders my observation is that you get parties led by people like Marine Le Pen and others who feed off the back of this, and ordinary decent people feel life is out of control”.
Right, it is high time to challenge these myths and scare tactics.
Right, it is high time to challenge these myths and scare tactics.
We need to stop worrying so much about immigration. Everyone seems worried about it.
In fact, British people are the EU’s biggest beneficiaries of the right to settle anywhere in the EU. More British people live in other EU countries than any other nationality! And there are about as many Brits living elsewhere in the EU as there are other EU nationals in Britain. Only 3.6% of the UK population is from another EU country. Most migration in the UK is from outside the EU, which means freedom of movement rules don’t apply and it’s completely up to the British government how to manage this migration. An estimated 47.1% of immigrants moving to the UK in 2013 were non-EU nationals.
EU migrants are net contributors to the economy. Between 2001 and 2011, they contributed 34% more in taxes than they took out in benefits and services. Compared to the UK average, EU migrants are more highly educated, more likely to be employed, and much less likely to claim benefits. 13% of working age British claim benefits as opposed to 5% of EU migrants. The latter paid in via taxes about 30% more than they cost our public services.
In fact, British people are the EU’s biggest beneficiaries of the right to settle anywhere in the EU. More British people live in other EU countries than any other nationality! And there are about as many Brits living elsewhere in the EU as there are other EU nationals in Britain. Only 3.6% of the UK population is from another EU country. Most migration in the UK is from outside the EU, which means freedom of movement rules don’t apply and it’s completely up to the British government how to manage this migration. An estimated 47.1% of immigrants moving to the UK in 2013 were non-EU nationals.
EU migrants are net contributors to the economy. Between 2001 and 2011, they contributed 34% more in taxes than they took out in benefits and services. Compared to the UK average, EU migrants are more highly educated, more likely to be employed, and much less likely to claim benefits. 13% of working age British claim benefits as opposed to 5% of EU migrants. The latter paid in via taxes about 30% more than they cost our public services.
I personally believe xenophobia is fuelled more by some elements of the media than by immigration: it is people in areas of low immigration who express the most fear of immigrants. Fear of the unknown. I worked in a practice where more than half of the population had a language other than English as their first. I saw no problems. Why should I? What IS the issue? If it is overcrowding, that is something different and the infrastructure needs to respond. Lib Dems suggest new towns. It would help the economy. Go away IDS.
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