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Press Releases for May 2010
May 2, 2010
Population and National Debt
May 2, 2010
Lib Dem Voters Strongly Opposed to an Amnesty
May 1, 2010
Now it’s the BBC that blunder over immigration statistics
Full Text of Releases : May 2010
Population and National Debt
Latest analysis shows that, as Britain struggles to pay down its huge national debt, we will have to provide for an extra one million people solely as a result of immigration over the next five years. This is equivalent to the combined populations of Manchester, Liverpool and York.
The figures, extracted by Migrationwatch, from the latest official population projections show that, from 2010 - 2115, the population is projected to increase by 1.15 million as a consequence of immigration – the immigrants themselves and their children born in the UK after their arrival. There are expected to be 222,000 children - enough to fill 440 primary schools of 500 each.
Over a ten year period the figures are even more stark. The population increase due to immigration is projected to be nearly 2.5 million, including 656,000 children.
Commenting, Sir Andrew Green, Chairman of Migrationwatch UK said, "The government is now completely broke. Where are we going to find the billions of pounds that will be needed to provide the additional homes, schools and hospitals for this extra population? The only real solution is to get immigration right down".
Notes to Editors
1. The numbers are based on the 2008 Population projections prepared by the Office for National Statistics which can be found at:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_population/NPP2008/NatPopProj2008.pdf
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Lib Dem Voters Strongly Opposed to an Amnesty
A new poll out today shows that the public are opposed to Nick Clegg’s policy of an amnesty for illegal immigrants. Among those intending to vote for the Liberal Democrats, opponents outnumber supporters by more than two to one.
The poll by YouGov, commissioned by MigrationwatchUK, did not use the term “amnesty”. Instead, it described the proposal in the terms used by the Liberal Democrats themselves. It asked whether respondents would support a proposal that migrants who have been living illegally in the UK for 10 years with a ‘clean record’ since they’ve been here should be granted full citizenship, subject to civic and language tests. 54% of the sample were opposed (37% strongly), 30% supported (6 % strongly). 11% neither supported nor opposed and 4% did not know.
However, opposition among those intending to vote Lib Dem was even stronger with 57% opposed (36% strongly), 26% supported (4% strongly). 14% neither supported nor opposed while 3% did not know.
In the last leaders’ debate, David Cameron challenged Nick Clegg to say whether his amnesty would apply to 600,000 people who could later be able to bring over a similar number of relatives.
Recent research by Migrationwatch has suggested that the size of the illegal immigrant population could be as high 1.1 million. A further Migrationwatch paper calculated that the lifetime cost to the taxpayer of an illegal immigrant granted an amnesty would come to just over £ 1/2 million if he had a wife and two children and earned on average, the minimum wage plus 50 per cent.
Commenting, Sir Andrew Green, Chairman of MigrationwatchUK, said:
“The penny has dropped with the public, and especially with Liberal Democrat supporters, that an amnesty would be hugely expensive to the taxpayer while being completely ineffective. The present crop of illegals would simply be replaced by visitors and students staying on illegally to take their places in the black economy. A severe crackdown on bent employers is the only answer.”
Notes to Editors:
1. The field work was conducted on 28 – 30 April 2010 and the sample size was 2,404 adults in Great Britain. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults aged 18.
2. The Migrationwatch paper on the size of the illegal population can be found at: http://www.migrationwatchuk.org/briefingPaper/document/188
3. The Migrationwatch paper on the cost of an amnesty can be found at: http://www.migrationwatchuk.org/briefingPaper/document/189
4. The full breakdown of the responses to this question are here.
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Now it’s the BBC that blunder over immigration statistics
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
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