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How many prisoners in our jails made their way to the UK illegally? Are people from certain countries more likely to end up behind bars than others? How much do migrants really cost the state and how much do they actually contribute?
You’d think we might have the answers to these basic questions. After all, they’re crucial for understanding the impact of immigration. But guess what? We don’t have them, because the Government refuses to publish the data.
As other European countries become more transparent on migration data, here in the UK, we’re moving in the opposite direction. It’s getting harder and harder to get the facts. The Department for Work and Pensions has quietly stopped releasing figures on how many migrants are claiming welfare. HMRC? They’ve cut off data showing how much tax migrants pay and how much they take back in tax credits.
In fairness to the new government, the trend towards secrecy and obfuscation began in the twilight period of the previous government. But far from putting right a disservice to the public, Sir Keir Starmer’s government has doubled down on disguising or hiding the facts from us.
Take the cost of dealing with the illegal dinghy arrivals and the backlog of asylum applications; they are now granting asylum or allowing applicants to stay at pace and palming them off on local authorities. In doing this, they bury the costs within the overall welfare budget. How deceitful and sneaky is that? Soon, Ms Cooper will be boasting that she’s slashed asylum spending (currently an eye-watering £4 billion a year).
This is a preview of Migration Watch’s free weekly newsletter. Please consider signing up to the newsletter directly, you can do so here and will receive an email copy of the newsletter every week as soon as it is released.