Immigration Is Up By 42 percent in Just One Year
Tom Whitehead, Daily Express (London), April 20, 2007
Record numbers of people are flowing into the UK after net immigration rocketed by 42 per cent in just a year.
The gap between those arriving and staying for at least a year and those leaving is now at its highest because of Labour’s open door on immigration.
And the influx of Eastern Europeans since Tony Blair threw open our labour market has helped fuel the massive rise.
The revelation came after official figures revealed immigrants are flocking to Britain at a rate of 1,500 every day.
With only 1,000 leaving per day, it means our population is soaring by 500 daily and almost half are coming to find work or have already landed jobs here.
Immigration minister Liam Byrne confirmed a new points-based system for immigrants will start next year but there are no guarantees it will reduce the inflow.
Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said: “This number of people migrating into this country shows why a points-based immigration system without a limit is pointless.
“Liam Byrne this week acknowledged that there are limited amounts of schools, hospitals and houses in the country, therefore he must accept that there should be a limit to the amount of people who can come here.”
Between June 2004 and June 2005, 246,200 more people came to the UK than left. That was up 42 per cent on the 173,600 during the previous 12 months, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The report said: “The estimate of net international migration in 2004/05 was the highest since estimates of Total International Migration were first produced on the current basis in 1991.” It also revealed that total numbers coming in to the UKbefore net outflows are accounted forincreased by 10 per cent in 2004/5, to 588,000.
The expansion of the EU to eight former Eastern Bloc nations, including Poland and Lithuania, in 2004 had an impact. An estimated 800,000 are believed to have come here to work since then. India is the main source of immigration to the UK and Poland is second.
Mr Byrne this week admitted mass migration has been “deeply unsettling” for Britain and piled pressure on communities. Labour’s open door policy is hitting the poorest areas and public services cannot keep up with the huge influx, he said.
A Home Office spokeswoman said: “These migrants remain important to the growth of the economy. A8 Migration [from former Communist countries] alone is estimated to have increased output by at least £4billion per year and lifted long-term economic growth by 10-15 per cent.”