New estimates from the ONS put the UK population at a staggering 67 million for the first time ever (a rise of nearly 4 million in a decade and eight million since 2001). Perhaps we have already reached 70 million. We only say that in light of the baffling official underestimate of the number EU citizens here – we were told there were 3.7, while the actual number of EU citizens who have applied for settlement status turns out to be two million more than that, and possibly higher. No wonder public services are at breaking point. Meanwhile, with unemployment already rising and set to go higher with the end of the furlough scheme, we simply cannot keep using mass immigration as a source of cheaper labour.
Our recently released housing video draws attention to the fact that population growth has averaged 450,000 per year over the past decade – more than four fifths of this due to the impact of arrivals from abroad. And as we have repeatedly mentioned, with immigration levels similar to those of recent years, we will need to build one home in England every five or six minutes until 2043 just to cope with increased demand resulting from mass immigration. We cannot go on like this.
It was therefore astonishing to hear Home Secretary Priti Patel suddenly openly ditching the election promise to reduce immigration. As we keep saying, we were promised controlled immigration but we were not expecting a control moulded into an engine for controlling immigration ever upwards. The loose, un-Australian, points-based system exposes seven million UK jobs to workers from the entire world at reduced salary and qualification levels. Besides which, the salience of the issue of immigration, as we know, is currently relatively low due to Brexit, then Covid and now the resultant absence of any useful immigration statistics. Any wonder that the public have been deceived into believing that the “Points Based System” will indeed reduce the scale of immigration? Recovery begins at home, Home Secretary, or should that be, Prime Minister?
Blog of the week
Why Immigration Control Matters – The Views of Three Thinkers
Our supporters will know that our work is based on rigorous research, giving you the facts and up-to-date numbers on mass immigration and its impact on our country. It is important to acknowledge the impact of immigration on our culture and our values too. Many academics have sought to articulate the exact meaning of concepts such as ‘way of life’ or ‘British values’ and the preservation of a sense of home and community and the sense of meaning that belonging to a country can give you. Here is a blog written recently by a Migration Watch UK team member on what three great thinkers have said on this subject. We hope you enjoy reading it here.
Migration Watch in the media
A busy week in the national media again for our Chairman Alp Mehmet. See below:
Talk Radio: Should we use offshore hubs to process migrants?
‘If the Danes can do it, if the Australians can do it, why can’t we for goodness sake? We’re an independent country now!’
‘[The government] seems incapable of stemming the flow …the public are in despair as migrant after migrant pushes their way into the UK at will and people-smugglers laugh all the way to the bank.’
And a reaction to another major story this week:
Telegraph: EU citizens must get on with applying for settled status, says Boris Johnson
‘The Prime Minister hints at exasperation. On this, he is right. Complaints about the EUSS deadline coming too soon are ridiculous. Not least because people have had plenty of time to apply – and over 5.5 million have (we were told there would only be 3.7 million) and resources have been poured into informing EU citizens about the scheme. If there are good reasons for failing to meet the deadline then the Home Office should be understanding. Otherwise, a deadline, is a deadline. That is how British citizens in EU countries will be treated, I am sure.’
Make your voice heard
Now that the government seems to be coming clean about its intentions to open up visa routes for work migration, it is vital that we let them know just how strongly tens of millions of people feel about the failure to control immigration. Voters want strict controls and a cap but Ministers have ignored them. It is all very well to dress up these loosened controls as part of a project for ‘Global Britain,’ but ‘global’ should not be taken to mean mass immigration. It is not what voters want and bears no resemblance to what the electorate has been promised. The government cannot be allowed to renege on their repeated pledges, especially when so many British people need the jobs and opportunities in the face of current economic uncertainty. Now is the time to write to your MP and make your voice heard.