1 Introduction
This paper outlines the many myths that are put forward by the mass immigration lobby in support of the current levels of immigration and dispels each myth in turn.
2 ‘Immigration provides great economic benefit’
For many years the government claimed that immigration added £6 billion a year to GDP. However, the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee, reporting in April 2008, said that what mattered was GDP per head. They concluded that:
“We have found no evidence for the argument, made by the government,
business and many others, that net immigration generates significant
economic benefits for the existing UK population”.
In January 2012 the Migration Advisory Committee went further. They said that even GDP per head exaggerated the benefit of immigration because:
“It is the immigrants themselves rather than the extant residents who arethe main gainers”.
They suggested that the GDP of residents should be the main focus.
They recognised that the resident population would gain via any “dynamic effects” of skilled immigration on productivity and innovation – these “exist and may be large, but they are elusive to measure”.
To see the 14 Myths and Rebutals go to Briefing Paper 12.4on Migration Watch UK web site.