Press Releases
Previous Press Releases
2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001December November October September August July June May April March February January
Press Releases for April 2006
April 25, 2006
£2.5bn Immigrant contribution claim is yet another 'dodgy dossier'
April 3, 2006
Massive public demand for annual immigration limit.
April 3, 2006
Home office response to opinion poll.
Full Text of Releases : April 2006
April 25, 2006
£2.5bn Immigrant contribution claim is yet another 'dodgy dossier'
Repeated Government claims that immigrants contribute £2.5bn more to the British economy in taxes than they receive in benefits and state services have been exposed as entirely false.
Instead of a surplus of £2.5bn the true figure is actually a deficit of £200m for the year the Government chose, says a report from Migrationwatch out today. (Read report)
Migrationwatch used the same methodology as the Government (and a subsequent paper from the Institute for Public Policy Research) in arriving at their results but with one very important difference – the allocation of nearly one and a half million children.
Both the Home Office and IPPR apportioned dependent children to the migrant population but only if both parents (or the sole parent) were foreign-born. Children of “mixed” households - those who had one UK-born parent and one foreign-born parent - were attributed entirely to the native population.
This meant that in these “mixed” households, the cost of all the children was attributed to the UK born parent and none of the costs fell to the immigrant community.
As there are some 1.4m children of “mixed” households this had a decisive effect on the result, as the original researchers should have realised. In the event, they chose the only assumption that could deliver the “positive” result that Ministers were clearly seeking.
By recalculating the figures and using the more equitable method of apportioning these children equally between the immigrant and native British communities the £2.5bn ‘surplus’ becomes a £200m deficit.
‘Our research completely demolishes the Government’s last remaining excuse for the highest levels of immigration in our history by exposing a serious error in their methodology,’ said Sir Andrew Green, chairman of Migrationwatch.
‘The government have produced yet another “dodgy dossier” on a matter of the first importance to the British people. They have used this statistic on every possible occasion but now it has been shown up as entirely worthless. Their case is holed below the waterline.’ he said.
This paper has been seen by David Coleman, Professor of Demography at the University of Oxford and by Robert Rowthorn, Professor of Economics at Cambridge University, who endorse its critique of Home Office and IPPR calculations. They have a special knowledge of the subject, having written an article for the leading academic journal, the Population and Development Review, in December 2004 entitled "The Economic Effects of Immigration into the United Kingdom".
Back to top
April 3, 2006
Massive public demand for annual immigration limit.
The public have comprehensively rejected the Government’s ‘no limits’ immigration policy and instead have called for an annual limit on numbers.
By 76% to 10% they strongly agreed (50%), or agreed (26%), there must be an annual limit to the number of immigrants allowed to come to Britain (only 4% strongly disagreeing), in a survey out today for think tank Migrationwatch. (View Survey)*
And in the same survey, only 10% said that the Government was listening to their opinion on an issue which the public ranks second only to crime as the most important issue facing Britain today.
The survey, conducted by YouGov, also suggested that concern about integration and the problems of overcrowding lie behind these attitudes.
The poll showed that 73% agreed (35% strongly) that Britain was becoming increasingly segregated while 69% agreed (45% strongly) that they are concerned that Britain is losing its own culture.
With recent government figures, analysed by Migrationwatch, showing that 1.5 million new homes will be required in the next 20 years to house immigrants, 69% also agreed (40% strongly) that Britain is already overcrowded.
As for the government’s claims that immigrants are needed for our economy, 71% agreed or strongly agreed that getting British people back to work should take priority over more immigration.
‘These are very high numbers and the results are similar across all social classes. It is difficult to see how the Government’s handling of this issue could be more thoroughly rejected by the British people,’ said Sir Andrew Green, chairman of Migrationwatch.
‘The survey shows that they fundamentally disagree with the Government’s open ended immigration policy and feel that their views are being ignored in the process.’
* The survey is viewed in Microsoft Excel. If you do not have Excel installed please click here to download a free viewer.
Back to top
April 3, 2006
Home office response to opinion poll.
The Home Office have made three points in reply to the Migrationwatch opinion poll issued today (see poll) which showed that 76 % of the population back an annual limit on immigration. None of their points stands up to a moment’s examination:
1. That the survey reflects the views of a "small fraction of the UK population".
Many polls are conducted on the basis of 500 to a 1000 respondents. In this case, there were 2000 and YOUGOV have confirmed that the poll is accurate plus or minus 2-3%.
2. That the "UK has a smaller foreign born population than Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, Germany and France.
The first four of these countries are entirely built on immigration. In any case the real issue is the scale that immigration has now reached. Under Labour foreign immigration has trebled, reaching 342,000 in 2004 - that is more than the entire population of Bristol.
3. "Migrants generate 10 % of UK GDP while representing only 8% of the UK population"
This was dismissed long ago by the Statistics Commission, an independent watchdog. Immigrants make up 8% of the working population but they have higher unemployment and fewer wives work. In fact, therefore, they comprise 10% of the population of working age and produce 10% of GDP.
We took up this point with the Statistics Commission. They came down on our side. The Chairman wrote "The points discussed above highlight again a concern that the Statistics Commission has raised in other contexts - where policy documents rest their arguments on statistical statements those statistical statements ought to be formally approved by professional statisticians. It is not enough to get the statistic points "more or less right". We will raise this with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Home Office."
Commenting, Sir Andrew Green said ‘The Home Office are clearly scraping the barrel. You can see why. With 76% wanting an annual limit on immigration and only 10% opposing, and also with only 10% believing that the Government are listening, the Government have a serious problem with public opinion which they are continually ignoring.’
Back to top