See below for an alternative version of this page, more suitable for printing.

We got it wrong over migrants, says Woolas

Labour's open-door EU immigration policy was wrong and led to "significant" pressure on public services, Phil Woolas admitted yesterday. In a frank confession, the Immigration Minister said the Government had failed to predict the scale of new arrivals after the EU expanded in 2004. But he tried to blame the mistake on other countries. (Daily Express, 13.5.09)

English is not the mother tongue of 900,000 pupils

A record 900,000 schoolchildren do not speak English as a first language. More than one in seven pupils in primary schools speaks another language at home, double the rate of a decade ago. In secondary schools, numbers exceed one in 10. (Daily Telegraph, 8.5.09)

Each illegal immigrant to cost us £1 million

An amnesty allowing illegal immigrants to stay in the UK would cost a staggering £1 million for each newcomer. The "huge, unnecessary burden" of letting up to 950,000 foreign nationals remain is revealed by Migrationwatch. (Daily Express, 4.5.09)

Foreign lorries responsible for 90% of smuggled migrants

Nine out of 10 lorry drivers who smuggle illegal immigrants into Britain are from overseas. In addition, The Government has failed to collect more than £1 million in fines owed by hauliers registered abroad who have been caught red-handed. (Daily Express, 25.4.09)

One-in-six rapes carried out by foreign attackers

Foreigners carried out one in six rapes in Britain last year. But police say it is increasingly difficult to bring foreign rapists to justice due to the large number of migrant workers and illegal immigrants now living in Britain. One senior police officer said: "You always have the risk of flight but with an illegal immigrant it is even more difficult because there is no record of them having come into the country in the first place." (Daily Express, 6.4.09)

One million migrants in just four years

The scale of Britain's immigration crisis is shown by the number of migrants here having rocketed by more than a million in four years. Between 2004 and 2007 the number of immigrants in the UK grew from 5.2 million to 6.3 million – an increase of 21 per cent. The number of foreigners in the UK from outside Europe – more than four million in 2007 – far outweigh those from inside the EU, around 1.9 million. (Daily Express, 27.3.09)

Asylum magnet

Britain was the third most popular destination for asylum seekers, the UN said yesterday. Some 159,000 people claimed asylum in Britain between 2004 and 2008. (Daily Telegraph, 25.3.09)

More than three-quarters of Britons want to see jobless immigrants forced to leave UK

The Government has failed to 'get control' of the issue of immigration. Phill Woolas, the Immigration Minister, said he was not surprised by findings of a poll which showed that nearly eight out of ten people believe all unemployed foreign migrants should be asked to leave the UK. (Daily Mail, 17.3.09)

Illegal immigrant figure 'is an 80 pc under-estimate'

The number of illegal immigrants in Britain appears to be 80 per cent more than government estimates. A study estimates there are 725,000 illegal foreigners. This is 81 per cent more than the last Home Office estimate of 430,000 in 2005. (Daily Telegraph, 10.3.09)

Crime by foreigners has doubled in five years

Crime committed by foreign nationals has doubled in five years. Figures from 20 police forces, covering more than half the population of England and Wales, show that foreigners committed or were accused of more than 70,000 offences last year – pointing to a nationwide total of more than 100,000 offences if all 43 forces had provided figures. Among the 15 forces which gave a breakdown by type of offence, there were 120 murders last year for which a foreign national was the prime suspect, and 426 rapes or attempted rapes. (Sunday Telegraph, 8.3.09)

Reduce immigration urgently, say Labour and Tory voters

A cut in immigration is the number-one concern for Labour and Conservative voters. In a survey, 52 per cent said they wanted a future Tory administration to reduce immigration. Immigration also came top of the list of concerns among Labour voters: 42 per cent said it should be cut compared with 62 per cent of Conservative supporters. (Daily Telegraph, 27.2.09)

One in 9 British residents was born overseas

One in nine people living in Britain was born overseas. 6.5 million people born overseas were resident in Britain in the year to June 2008. This is a rise of 290,000 on the previous year and an increase of 1.2 million since 2004. In all, 10.7 per cent of the British population were born overseas. In 2001, the rate was around 8 per cent. Among the foreign-born population, the most common countries of birth were India (619,000 people), Poland (461,000), Ireland (416,000) and Pakistan (415,000). (Daily Telegraph, 25.2.09)

Steyn on Britain and Europe: HAPPY WARRIOR from National Review

Mark Steyn

According to official statistics, of "white British Christian" households 16 per cent have two or more dependent children; among the UK's "Pakistani Muslim" households, the figure is 50 per cent; "Bangladeshi Muslims", 58 per cent. (SteynOnline, 24.2.09)

Foreign workers hold one in seven UK jobs

Foreign workers' share of the jobs market has almost doubled under Labour, with 3.8 million now employed in Britain. Workers not born in Britain account for one in seven jobs after more than 1.8 million foreigners were added to the labour force over the last decade. Two thirds of those have come from outside the EU.
     Non-British born workers account for 13 per cent of all employment in the last quarter of 2008, with 3.8 million in work here. That was up from 7.5 per cent – two million workers – in 1997. (Daily Telegraph, 18.2.09)

Muslim population 'rising 10 times faster than rest of society'

The Muslim population in Britain has grown by more than 500,000 to 2.4 million in just four years. The population multiplied 10 times faster than the rest of society. Muhammad Abdul Bari, general secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain, predicted that the number of mosques in Britain would multiply from the present 1,600 in line with the rising Islamic population. (The Times, 30.1.09)

Jobless up but more foreign workers enter UK

A record number of work permits were handed out to immigrants last year despite rising unemployment. More than 151,000 people from outside the EU were given permission to work in Britain: almost four times the figure when Labour took power in 1997. Over the same period, unemployment increased by 290,000. (Daily Telegraph, 24.1.09)

Asylum seekers 'face one in 10 chance of removal'

Asylum seekers who were told that they could not stay in Britain could face just a one in 10 chance of being removed, the Government's auditors said yesterday. There was also no system in place to track those granted asylum, even though their cases were supposed to be reviewed after five years. (Daily Telegraph, 23.1.09)

We allowed a migrant free-for-all during Blair years, Cabinet minister Hazel Blears says

Labour allowed a 'free-for-all' on immigration during its first years in power, a Cabinet minister has admitted. Large numbers of economic migrants were let into the country claiming they were asylum seekers, Communities Secretary Hazel Blears said. It was the first confession from a senior Labour figure that Britain's liberal asylum laws were abused after Tony Blair came to power.
     The number of asylum seekers arriving in Britain peaked in 2002 at just over 100,000 a year. Around 2.5 million foreign citizens are believed to have moved to Britain since Labour came to power in 1997. (Daily Mail, 12.1.09)

Migrant scandal - Britons feel neglected and betrayed

Britain's white working class feels it has been "betrayed" and "abandoned" in favour of immigrants, a Government report has revealed. Poor white people living on some of the country's most deprived estates believe they are the biggest victims of a decade of mass immigration, according to the study. Many people believe immigrants are better treated in terms of housing, benefits and jobs and now fear that their territory and "national culture" are under threat. But they also feel unable to complain for fear of being branded racist. (Daily Express, 3.1.09)

50 million invited to Europe

An EU job centre for migrants seeking work in Europe has been opened secretly in the West African state of Cape Verde. The project is the second phase of a Brussels tax-funded plan to invite more than 50 million African workers into Britain and other members of the 27-nation EU bloc. The Home Office insisted that the new EU centre would not affect Britain. (Daily Express, 3.1.09)

Migrants filled most new jobs

Virtually all the growth in new jobs in the past seven years has been accounted for by migrants. There are 1.34 million more people in work now than in 2001 but the number of British-born workers has fallen by 62,000 over the same period. In contrast, there has been a surge in the number of migrants in employment, including almost 500,000 more Eastern Europeans.
     The study showed that between 2001 and 2008, employment in Britain grew by 1.342 million. This was made up of 253,000 more British nationals and 1,087,000 more foreign workers in jobs. But the British nationals figure includes migrants who hold British citizenship. When they are removed, the number of British-born workers in employment actually fell by 62,000 over the period. (Daily Telegraph, 16.12.08)

UK net immigration up to 237,000

Net immigration to the UK increased to 237,000 in 2007, according to the Office for National Statistics. That is 46,000 more than in 2006 - as a result of emigration falling faster than immigration. Asylum applications were up 12% between July and October this year - the fifth consecutive increase. The figures mean that the population has grown by 1.8 million because of immigration since Labour came to power in 1997.
     Former Labour minister Frank Field, who has called for a new tougher cross-party approach, said: "Today's figures will come as a shock to ministers. Net migration is much higher than expected. This means immigration has directly added a million people to the UK's population in just the past five years."
     The estimated number of people arriving to live in the UK for twelve months or more was 577,000 in 2007, compared with 591,000 in 2006. Although it has risen, net immigration is still slightly lower than the record figure of 244,000, reached in 2004. (BBC, 19.11.08)

Wrongly approved visas allow 300,000 into UK every year

Around 300,000 foreigners who should not be granted visas are allowed into Britain every year. Linda Costelloe-Baker, who monitors visa refusals, told MPs that around 15 per cent of short-term visas were wrongly approved because it was easier than rejecting applications. She said officials were "under pressure" to issue visas in order to hit productivity targets. The disclosure suggests there could be far more illegal immigrants in the country than thought. The Government has estimated that there are up to 570,000 illegal immigrants in Britain, but with so many visas being issued incorrectly, that figure could run to millions. This is because unsuitable applicants are more likely to overstay their visa and remain in the country illegally. (Daily Telegraph, 19.11.08)

Non-European immigrants coming to Britain double in a year

The number of non-European immigrants coming to Britain has almost doubled between 2006 and 2007, at the same time as the number of incomers from eastern European Union countries declined. Figures showed immigration from Eastern Europe were down from 205,000 incomers to Britain in 2006 to 185,000 in 2007. At the same time, the numbers of immigrants entering Britain from non-European regions, such as Asia, has risen sharply, almost doubling from 90,000 in 2006 to 176,000 people last year. In 2007 there were 2,123,000 immigrants living in Britain from outside Europe, compared to 699,000 migrants from the new EU, such as Poles, Czechs of Slovaks, countries that joined in 2003 or from Bulgaria and Romania, which joined last year. (Daily Telegraph, 18.11.08)

Minister retreats over promise to limit immigration

The Government has backtracked on a promise to limit the number of immigrants amid accusations that the pledge amounted to little more than spin. Two days after he appeared to signal a cap on the number of overseas workers allowed into Britain, Phil Woolas, the Immigration Minister, said no fresh measures were planned, and said he had been referring to existing schemes. (Daily Telegraph, 20.10.08)

Exclusive: immigrant jobs shock

Immigrants are squeezing hundreds of thousands of British workers out of jobs. Official figures reveal that the number of British-born adults in work here fell by 365,000 in the past two years. During the same period the number of foreign-born adults working in Britain has soared by 865,000. (Sunday Express, 19.10.08)

Public 'misled by ministers over migrants'

The public has been misled by ministers over how many foreigners are coming to live and work in Britain. Prof David Hand, the head of the Royal Statistical Society, complained that a Home Office official had been handing out a press notice promoting government policy at an Office for National Statistics (ONS) briefing on migration figures. The press notice claimed the ONS figures showed that "the number of Eastern European migrants coming to work in the UK has fallen to its lowest level since accession". Yet the figures also showed that long-term immigration had hit a new record, with 605,000 moving here in 2007.
[This extract is based mainly on the printed version] (Daily Telegraph, 18.9.08)

One million of Pakistani origin in Britain

At least one million people of Pakistani origin now live in Britain, according to the government in Islamabad. With 3.7 per cent of children born in England and Wales in 2005 having Pakistani parents, it is estimated that the population could increase to more than 2.6 million by 2031. (Daily Telegraph, 15.9.08)

Lord Carey warns of racial violence

Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, has warned that uncontrolled immigration could lead to violence on the streets. He said the "unprecedented" scale of people arriving from different faiths and cultures could change what it means to be British. (Daily Telegraph, 12.9.08)

Just 2 in 3 babies are white British

Fewer than two-thirds of newborn babies are registered as "white British". 64.4% of the 649,371 babies born in England and Wales in 2005 were recorded in the category; 9% were Asian, 5% black, 3.5% "mixed" and 2.4% "other ethnic group". Irish and 'other' whites made up another 5%, with just over 10% unrecorded. (Daily Telegraph, 30.8.08)

'Churning' population hits 61m as record numbers come and go

The make-up of Britain's population is changing at an unprecedented rate with more than one million people either settling here or leaving last year. The population has reached almost 61 million. Long-term immigration hit a new record, with 605,000 moving here in 2007. Since 2001, long-term immigration – those moving here for at least a year – has risen by 21%. There has been a sharp rise in the birth rate, particularly among non-British mothers. Over the past six years, the number of births to non-UK born women has risen by 64%. (Daily Telegraph, 22.8.08)

270,000 foreign workers arrive in a year

The number of foreign workers has risen dramatically, with nearly 300,000 people coming to work here in the past year. This is the biggest annual influx of foreign workers since the Government started to keep count 10 years ago. The number of foreigners over the age of 16 working in Britain reached 2.29 million at the end of March – 270,000 more than at the same time last year. (Daily Telegraph, 20.8.08)

Immigration biggest issue for voters despite credit crunch and global warming

Immigration tops the list of factors most likely to influence how people will vote in the next UK general election. Thirty per cent of people rank immigration as their priority election issue, beating concerns over crime, health and education. (eGov Monitor [website], 29.7.08)

Over half of young knife suspects are black, Scotland Yard figures reveal

Black youths are suspected of more than half of reported knife crime among children in the capital, according to confidential figures, but most victims are white. (Mail on Sunday, 20.7.08)

Immigration: now even MPs warn... we fear riots in Britain

Immigration is the single biggest cause of public concern, an all-party group of MPs warn. They told the Government it must act urgently to defuse tensions before the concern boils over into riots. (Daily Express, 16.7.08)

Multicultural Britain enjoys a modern-day baby boom

Almost one in four babies is now born to foreign mothers. The proportion of births to foreign-born women is 23 per cent. On average, foreign women have 2.5 children each, rising to 3.9 for those from Bangladesh and almost five from Pakistani women. The number of babies born to British mothers is an average of 1.7 children each. (Daily Telegraph, 11.7.08)

Nine out of 10 immigrants 'non-European'

More than two million foreign nationals have moved to Britain in recent years and nine in 10 of them came from outside Europe. MigrationwatchUK has calculated that a net 2.3 million immigrants arrived in Britain between 1991 and 2006, the majority from developing economies in Africa and Asia. The Indian subcontinent contributed a net increase of almost 600,000 people to Britain. African countries accounted for a gain of more than 450,000. (Daily Telegraph, 2.6.08)

Immigration count 'is not fit for purpose'

Hundreds of thousands of short-term immigrants are not included in official statistics because the system for counting population changes is "not fit for purpose,". The counting system is so unreliable that it is not even possible to know the true population of Britain. The Treasury Sub-Committee warns that the failure to correctly count the number of foreigners coming into Britain is undermining Government policies and putting unfair pressure on many local authorities and taxpayers. (Daily Telegraph, 23.5.08)

Migrants will help to swell population of England by two London-sized cities within 50 years

The population of England is to increase by the equivalent of two new cities of the size of London within half a century. The House of Commons Library predicts that by 2056 there will be an extra 17 million people - taking the total to 67.9 million.
     Karen Dunnell, the National Statistician, shows the huge role immigration plays in UK-wide population growth, with net migration running at 190,000 a year. Between 1997 and 2001, natural change added 416,471 to the population, and migrants and other limited factors 532,652. From 2002 to 2006 natural change added 528,429, and net migration 932,999. (Daily Mail, 23.5.08)

Citizenship for record 164,000 foreigners

Record numbers of foreign nationals are being granted citizenship: 164,635 people became British last year, a 7% rise in 12 months. More than nine in 10 people who applied for citizenship were accepted. The biggest group was from India, 9% of the total. (Daily Telegraph, 21.5.08)

England to be most crowded in Europe

The population of England will increase by a third over the next 50 years as it becomes the most crowded major nation in Europe, official forecasts suggest. England's population, now 50 million, will by 2056 be 68 million. (Daily Telegraph, 6.5.08)

English is not the first language for 800,000 children

More than 800,000 children do not speak English as their first language. (Daily Telegraph, 30.4.08)

Britons fear race violence - poll

Almost two-thirds of people in Britain fear race relations are so poor tensions are likely to spill over into violence. In a BBC survey 60% say the UK has too many immigrants and half want foreigners encouraged to leave. Asked if they thought immigration meant their local area didn't feel like Britain any more, a quarter agreed. Six out of 10 said immigration had made parts of Britain feel like a foreign country. (BBC, 17.4.08)

Four in five say Britain is facing a crisis over immigration

Immigration is diluting our culture and leading to the breakdown of society, according to the most Britons; 83% say the country has a "population crisis"; 15% would halt immigration altogether and 84% would reduce it. Immigration is considered to be the biggest factor behind societal breakdown over the past decade. (Daily Mail, 9.4.08)

Revealed: how immigration 'costs Britons jobs'

Mass immigration has accompanied a fall in the number of Britons with jobs. Since 2004 the number of UK-born people working here has fallen by 500,000, while the number of migrants in work rose by 1.1 million, to 3.3 million. Britons have lost jobs to immigrants. The former cabinet minister Clare Short says that the Government had made a "very big mistake" in allowing large-scale immigration from eastern Europe. (Sunday Telegraph, 6.4.08)

Immigration curbs urged by peers

The number of immigrants entering Britain should be capped, a House of Lords committee warns. Record levels of immigration are bringing no economic benefit to the country. The economic affairs committee rebukes the Government for using "irrelevant and misleading" economic statistics to justify the boom in immigration in the past decade. The net immigration of non-British persons has trebled from less than 100,000 a year in the early 1990s to more than 300,000 in 2006. (Daily Telegraph, 1.4.08)

Home Office in illegal immigrants cover-up

Hundreds of illegal immigrants, including a suspected murderer and other criminals, are working in care homes in Britain. A leaked report, produced more than two years ago, warned that the problems were "widespread" and "significant", but its findings have been ignored. Many of the illegal workers were using false names and forged identity documents to bypass police criminal records checks. Offenders are rarely brought to court.
[The headline in the newspaper is "Home Office in migrants cover-up"] (Sunday Times, 30.3.08)

2,000 migrants a day are given right to live in UK

Almost 2,000 immigrants a day are granted the right top live and work in Britain. More than 710,000 foreigners received National Insurance numbers in 2007. (Daily Telegraph, 21.3.08)

Numbers arriving swell to 190,000 a year

The number of immigrants forecast to enter Britain each year has risen to around 190,000. Official estimates are that the population will rise from 61 million to 67 million by 2020 and more than 70 million in 2030. (Daily Telegraph, 14.3.08)

£28m in child benefit is paid to families living in Poland

British taxpayers are paying £28 million in child benefit for youngsters living in eastern Europe; about 34,000 children of migrant workers were getting British state handouts, even though they do not live here. Additional sums are being paid out in child tax credits. Total payouts could be more than £50 million but figures are "not available". (Daily Telegraph, 8.3.08)

EU expansion 'has spread terrorism'

Terrorists and organised crime gangs have exploited the expansion of the EU, according to Britain's most senior police officer. Sir Ian Blair, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said most of the organised crime and a "great deal" of terrorism in Britain emanated from Europe. (Daily Telegraph, 5.3.08)

Foreigners given 85pc of new jobs since 1997

Almost nine in 10 new jobs created over the past decade have been taken by foreign-born workers. The number of British people in work has slumped to the lowest level since Labour was elected in 1997. Of the 1.7 million more people in employment since 1997, 1.5 million were born outside the UK.
     Frank Field, a former Labour minister, said: "What the Government needs to do is to face up to the fact that we need to restrict the movement of labour from eastern Europe. We had the ability to do that, but now we would need to ask the European Commission for permission. And the Government seems unwilling to do that." (Daily Telegraph, 3.3.08)

A million eastern Europeans have come to Britain in past four years

More than 800,000 eastern Europeans have registered to work in Britain. However, the self-employed do not have to register, so the overall number is almost certainly above one million. A further 30,570 from Bulgaria and Romania have been granted work permits. (Daily Telegraph, 27.2.08)

UK unable to sustain population, says study

The UK is drastically over-populated and could support only 17 million people if it had to provide for the current 60 million from its own resources. The UK has no hope of living sustainably unless every person's "ecological footprint" is reduced by more than 70 per cent, the study for the Optimum Population Trust (OPT) says.
     Government targets to cut carbon emissions by 60 per cent by 2050 will have little impact on the UK's sustainability because of the rate of population growth. Even if Britain were carbon neutral, it could only sustainably support 40 million people with the same standard of living.
     The chairman of the OPT said the study showed the extent of the UK's overpopulation and the threat it poses to the environment and people's quality of life. She added: "It also shows how desperately we need a national population policy." (Daily Telegraph, 18.2.08)

Benefits of immigration exaggerated, says peer

One of Gordon Brown's senior advisers has warned that the economic benefits of allowing in millions of migrant workers have been vastly over-estimated. Lord Turner of Ecchinswell attacked claims that large-scale immigration can be justified on economic grounds. He accused ministers of knowing that such arguments did not stack up and said they were being used to justify an inevitable influx of migrants and avoid a "racist backlash". He rejects arguments that without immigrants Britain would face a shortage of workers as mostly "economically illiterate", and dismisses claims that immigrants and their offspring are needed to support an ageing population. (Daily Telegraph, 14.2.08)

Migrant figures 'higher than claimed'

Many more migrants from outside the EU are arriving than ministers claim. Liam Byrne, the immigration minister, claimed last year that 52 per cent of migrants to Britain came from outside the European Union. Migrationwatch says that the true proportion was 68 per cent, and the Statistics Commission has agreed. Sir Andrew Green said: "These figure prove that more than two-thirds of immigrants come from outside the EU and show that there could be a substantial reduction if the Government had the will to do it." (Daily Telegraph, 13.2.08)

Over 2m foreigners are now working in Britain

There has been a 75 per cent increase in workers from abroad in the last six years, while the number of British employees has dropped by half a million. The number of foreigners in the UK workforce increased between 2001 and 2007 by 864,000 – to just over two million people. (Daily Telegraph, 11.2.08)

Immigrants in UK will top nine million

Britain's immigrant population will rise to 9.1 million in a little over two decades compared with 5.4 million now – an increase of more than two thirds – according to the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR). The increase of 3.7 million is the same as adding a city the size of Coventry to Britain's population every two years. (Daily Telegraph, 31.1.08)

Foreigners living in 1.5 million homes

One in 15 homes is now occupied by immigrants. Hundreds of thousands of Eastern European workers have been given council houses. Foreigners live in more than 1.5 million homes, including 310,000 council houses and flats. Another 570,000 have been bought by people born outside Britain. (Daily Telegraph, 18.1.08)

White flight 'is on the increase'

The flight of the white middle classes from the inner cities is accelerating, the Government's race relations chief says. Trevor Phillips said: "We know that white flight is accelerating. That schools – we know this from studies done by Bristol University – are becoming more segregated than the areas they sit in." (Daily Telegraph, 15.1.08)

England to be most crowded EU nation

England is about to become the most crowded major country in Europe, overtaking Holland, and leaving only the tiny island of Malta with a higher population density. About 70 per cent of recent population growth in England resulted from immigration and much of the rest was down to higher birth rates among immigrants. The population density is almost double the level in Germany and quadruple that in France. (Daily Telegraph, 3.1.08)

English is minority language in 1,300 schools

Children with English as their first language are now in the minority in more than 1,300 schools. In a total of 1,338 primary and secondary schools – more than one in 20 of all schools in England – children with English as their first language are in the minority. In 600 of these schools, fewer than a third of pupils speak English as their first language. (Daily Telegraph, 17.12.07)

Britain's highest birth rates are among migrants

A baby boom among immigrant families is driving the population to a record high. Britain's highest birth rates are in the Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities, both predominantly Muslim. The birth rate among women born in Pakistan but living in the UK is three times higher than that among British-born women. Of the total 669,531 births last year, 146,956 were to mothers born outside the UK. The figures do not reflect the total number of babies born in Britain's ethnic communities because they exclude those of British-born second-generation migrants. (Sunday Telegraph, 9.12.07)

500,000: Record number of foreigners who settled here last year. 200,000: The number of Britons who decided to quit the country

In 2006, 510,000 foreign migrants came to the UK to stay for at least 12 months, out of a record 591,000 new arrivals, only 14 per cent of which were Britons coming home. Not included are hundreds of thousands of east Europeans who have arrived in the past two years, since most say they are coming for less than 12 months. The biggest influx was from the New Commonwealth - India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka - with more than 200,000 migrants.
     Since 1997, nearly four million foreign nationals have come to Britain and 1.6 million have left; 1.8 million Britons have left, but only 979,000 have returned. The difference of around three million between the emigration of British nationals and immigration of foreigners represents a five per cent turnover of the population in 10 years. Previous immigrations did not exceed one per cent over 50 years. Over the past 20 years, the white British population has decreased slightly while the number of ethnic-minority Britons has doubled. (Daily Telegraph, 16.11.07)

Restrictions call

81% of the public believe immigration in Britain should be cut substantially, while 54% dispute the Government's assertion that those coming into the country have helped the economy; 85% think that immigration is putting too much pressure on public services. (Daily Telegraph, 12.11.07)

Foreigners fill half new jobs

More than half - 52% - of all new jobs created under Labour have gone to foreigners, not 40.7% as the Government previously claimed. The number of migrant workers involved is given as 1.1 million. The true figure might be higher still. Frank Field, a former cabinet minister, puts it at 1.6 million. (Daily Telegraph, 31.10.07)

Children

Out of 669,000 babies born last year in England and Wales, 147,000, or 22%, were the children of foreign-born mothers. A further six per cent had British-born mothers but foreign-born fathers. Among the foreign mothers, a quarter were Asian, a quarter European, a quarter from Africa or the Caribbean, and a quarter from elsewhere. (Daily Telegraph, 24.10.07)

Rising births will swell UK to 75m

The number of people in the UK will exceed 75 million by the middle of the century, perhaps even 77 million. The increase will be the equivalent of building two new cities the size of London. The proportion of the population that is non-white is on course to grow from 9% at the last census in 2001 to 29% in 2051. (Sunday Telegraph, 21.10.07)

Foreign workers now 1.9 million

Foreign workers now number 1.9 million, including those who entered Britain before 2004, up 70 per cent since Labour took power in 1997.
[The title is incorrect - see the first paragraph] (Sunday Telegraph, 14.10.07)

2.2m immigrants arrive in five years

More than 2.2 million immigrants arrived in the UK between 2001 and 2005 while 870,000 foreign-born people left the country, so the foreign-born resident population grew by 1.4 million in five years. At the same time, the UK-born resident population fell by half a million, with 897,000 leaving the country for a year or more and 394,000 returning. The net increase to the UK's population was 939,000 in the five years to last summer - an extra 515 people every day. (Daily Telegraph, 10.10.07)

Migrants are a drain on Britain, says Left think-tank

Hundreds of thousands of immigrants are a drain on Britain and its economy, says a Left-leaning think-tank. Migrants from many developing nations fail to pay their way, while those from wealthy countries, such as the United States and Australia, provide a boost for the economy. The report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) found that fewer than half of Britain's 650,000 Somalis, Bangladeshi, Turks and Pakistanis, have jobs and the four communities have the highest levels of benefit dependency. (Sunday Telegraph, 30.9.07)

White British children outnumbered in almost a fifth of education areas

White British children are now a minority in almost a fifth of education authorities in England. They are outnumbered at primary and secondary schools in 29 of the 150 local education authority areas, including Birmingham, Leicester, Luton, Slough and most London boroughs.
     Across the country, pupils from ethnic minorities accounted for almost 22 per cent of those at primary school compared to 20.6 per cent last year. At secondary school, numbers rose at a similar rate, to 17.7 per cent. About one in eight pupils - some 800,000 - do not speak English as a first language. Across inner and outer London, black and Asian pupils outnumber white British children by about six to four. In Birmingham, 57 per cent of primary and 52 per cent of secondary pupils are from non-white British families. (Daily Telegraph, 28.9.07)

Immigration estimates out by 45,000 a year and 5m more are on the way

Immigration will add almost five million people to the population over the next 25 years, according to official estimates. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revised its long-term assumptions upwards by a third.
     For the past few years, it assumed that they net migration figure - the difference between those leaving and arriving - would be 145,000 a year over the next two decades. The assumption now is for an annual addition to the population of 190,000 through direct immigration every year until 2031. (Daily Telegraph, 28.9.07)

White people in Birmingham 'a minority by 2027'

White people living in the UK's second biggest city are likely to find themselves in a minority in 20 years' time. Demographers from Manchester University claim that the number of white people living in Birmingham will be overtaken by the number of those with other ethnic origins by 2027. (Daily Telegraph, 31.8.07)

One in four babies is born to a foreign parent

One in four babies born in the UK has a foreign mother or father. For the year to July 2006 the proportion of babies born to a foreign parent has risen to 25 per cent compared tom 20 per cent just six years ago. (Daily Telegraph, 23.8.07)

NI papers given to 2 million migrants

More than two million foreign nationals have been issued with National Insurance numbers to work in Britain in the past four years. A third were allocated to the east European countries that joined the EU in 2004. But 600,000 have been issued to workers from Asia and the Middle East and a further 300,000 to Africans. Last year alone, there were 713,000 new NI registrations - double that in 2003-04. (Daily Telegraph, 25.7.07)

Targets for new homes 'will raise flood risk'

Gordon Brown's plans to build thousands of extra new homes will increase the risk of flash flooding, worsen traffic congestion and damage the green belt, according to the Government's own advisors. Trunk roads will fail to cope with predicted traffic demand, creating more congestion and pollution. Overcrowding on trains will increase, with "serious capacity problems" on commuter lines. Government plans will have "a negative effect on the character of the countryside" and a "significant negative impact on the green belt". Developments will bring a "severe deficit of water resources" and have "significant effects on water quality". (Sunday Telegraph, 22.7.07)

House of Commons debate

Nicholas Soames, MP (Con)

The present scale of immigration is absolutely without precedent in our history. ... Just over 1 million people have been granted British citizenship in the past 10 years. Net foreign immigration during that period was more than 2 million people, or 600 a day. That rate of immigration cannot be sustained without the most profound changes occurring in our society. (Hansard - Commons, 17.7.07)

House of Commons debate

Andrew Pelling, MP (Con)

More than a third of the present population of London were born outside the United Kingdom. It strikes me that the Government should have a view on what the percentage should be: does the Minister take the view that it should be the majority? The question whether the majority of residents of our capital city should have been born outside the UK strikes me as a fundamental aspect of public policy. (Hansard - Commons, 17.7.07)

House of Commons debate

Frank Field, MP (Lab)

In the last three years for which we have data, the number of people coming to this country is about 2 million and the number leaving is about 1 million. I do not subtract one from the other and say, "Oh, there is a net increase of only this sum." Those figures are changing the stock of people in this country. (Hansard - Commons, 17.7.07)

'They come and go with ease'

Pakistan is the command HQ, and that is where recruits are trained. That is why the UK is so vulnerable: its large Pakistani community means the few who would cause the country harm can enter and leave without suspicion. More than 400,000 journeys are made between Pakistan and Britain each year. (Daily Telegraph, 7.7.07)

Ethnic border guards

Geoffrey Van Orden, MEP, Conservative Defence and Security Spokesman

Given that ethnic minorities are estimated to form about 6.7 per cent of our total population of working age, I was alarmed to receive the reply that, of those staff whose ethnicity was recorded, 29 per cent of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, 30 per cent of the Immigration Service and 14 per cent of the Identity and Passport Service were from ethnic minorities.
     While it is only right and proper that all law-abiding bona fide citizens, regardless of ethnicity, should have equal opportunities, the manning of our front-line immigration services is curiously disproportionate.
[Letter to the Editor] (Daily Telegraph, 6.7.07)

200,000 'social homes' were given to immigrants last year

Five times more immigrants are given social housing than previously claimed, the Government has admitted, just weeks after ministers insisted that only one per cent of social housing is given to immigrants, in an attempt to quell widespread fears that they are treated better by local authorities than people born in Britain. But after an ITV investigation, the Government has admitted that 200,000 of Britain's social homes - five per cent of the total - were given to immigrants last year. (Daily Telegraph, 2.7.07)

One in 10 people living in Britain was born overseas

One in 10 people living in Britain was born overseas - a far higher proportion than previously thought. Record levels of immigration are rapidly changing the make-up of the population, figures from the OECD show. The last census, six years ago, suggested 4.3 million people in Britain were born abroad. But the OECD's annual International Migration Outlook put the proportion in 2005 at 9.7 per cent - or about 5.8 million out of a total of 60 million. In recent years, about half a million people have come to live in Britain every 12 months. (Daily Telegraph, 26.6.07)

Mixed-race neighbours 'less trusting'

People in ethnically mixed areas are less trusting of their neighbours and live in a more isolated existence, research has found. The greater the diversity, the looser the community bonds and the more withdrawn local residents become, says Robert Putnam, an American academic based at Harvard.
     Prof Putnam's research shows that people who live in such areas retreat into their shells. They spend more time watching television, volunteer less and take little part in community activity. But where "social capital" is greater, children grow up healthier, safer and better educated. People in more homogeneous communities also have longer, happier lives and democracy and the economy work better. Prof Putnam's findings are the outcome of a five-year study into the impact of immigration and diversity on America. (Daily Telegraph, 19.6.07)

Migrants push birth rate to highest in 26 years

146,944 children were born last year to mothers who did not come from Britain. In 1998 the total was 86,345. Babies born to mothers from overseas accounted for 21.9 per cent of all births last year, up from 20.8 per cent the year before. (Daily Telegraph, 8.6.07)

It's not racist to worry about an imported population boom

Jeff Randall

In December 2004, just as the wave of arrivals from eastern Europe was becoming too big to ignore, a survey for the Economist revealed that nearly three quarters of British people believed that too many immigrants were coming here. The Government refused to listen; it didn't want to know.
     Labour encourage, in some cases by stealth, one of the most impactful challenges to British life without asking anyone for permission or approval. Unrestricted immigration did not feature in any of Tony Blair's election manifestos. We simply got it - whether we liked it or not. ...
     Amid the hype and hysteria, there is one unavoidable fact: if Britain continues to allow current levels of immigration, this country's population will grow dramatically in the next 50 years. This is the element that bothers me most. Never mind arguments over race, diversity and multiculturalism, England (where most immigrants want to settle) is horribly crowded. With 50 million people, it is the fourth-most densely populated country in the world, excluding city states such as Hong Kong and Dubai.
     Seven out of 10 Britons believe that we are already over-crowded. They do not want to see a further sharp rise in numbers. But that's what they'll get if nothing is done. (Daily Telegraph, 1.6.07)

Labour has welcomed one million new citizens since 1997

British citizenship has been granted to one million foreign nationals since Labour came to power in 1997. More than 150,000 obtained a passport in 2006 - taking the total to around 1,020,000 since Tony Blair took office. ...
     Sir Andrew Green, the chairman of Migrationwatch UK, said passing one million new citizens since 1997 was a watershed for government policy. "This total does not even include the latest wave of east Europeans," he said. Even so we already face a massive change in British society completely contrary to the wishes of the public and also contrary to Labour's 1997 election manifesto, which said that every country needs firm immigration control and Britain is no exception. It is hard to know whether this [increase] is incompetence or deliberate deceit. Either way we will pay a high price in terms of social harmony." (Daily Telegraph, 23.5.07)

4,000 terror suspects in UK, warns ex-Met chief

Up to 4,000 terrorism suspects and their supporters are active in Britain, according to the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Lord Stevens. He says the security service MI5 had recently suggested a figure of 2,000 but the true number was "probably nearer 4,000". ... Lord Stevens urged that known terrorism suspects and "hate clerics" should be deported, adding: "Our human rights come first. Yet, incredibly, our so-called Human Rights laws, and our enviable history of religious tolerance, mean that foreigners preaching death and destruction to our way of life are allowed to stay here because their own countries won't tolerate such evil." (Daily Telegraph, 7.5.07)

Foreign prisoners clogging jails cost UK £400m a year

Foreign prisoners now make up almost one in six of Britain's jail population and are costing the taxpayer almost £400 million a year to keep, new figures show. The explosion in the number of overseas inmates has been the main driver behind the overcrowding crisis that has pushed the total above 80,000. There are now 12,122 foreign prisoners compared to around 10,000 just a year ago. (Daily Telegraph, 3.5.07)

A nation of newcomers

David Conway

Immigration today adds 1 per cent to Britain's population every two years, or more than 5 per cent every decade. ... The amount of immigration we have seen over the past decade has no parallel in British history. International migration into Britain now contributes around 80 per cent of Britain's annual population increase, and has done so since 1999. ... On present trends, by 2073, the majority population of this country will either have migrated here, or be the child or grandchild of parents who did so. (Sunday Telegraph, 22.4.07)

Record immigration is big worry for many voters, minister admits

Labour's immigration minister has conceded that the record inflow of immigrants could be harming the worse off and has "deeply unsettled the country". Liam Byrne says that the issue is now near the top of the list of voter worries. (Daily Telegraph, 18.4.07)

Foreign voters 'could decide next election'

Nearly one million Commonwealth citizens could swing the result of a close general election unless voting eligibility is restricted. About 988,000 non-British citizens from 50 Commonwealth countries are entitled to vote under a 90-year-old convention as long as they are resident in Britain. Migrationwatch calls this a "hangover from the past" that was never intended to bestow voting rights on so many people. It also says no checks are made on the immigration status of those who register to vote, which increases the chances of illegal participation. (Daily Telegraph, 16.4.07)

200,000 'lost' asylum seekers may be allowed indefinite stay

More than 200,000 failed asylum seekers may stay in Britain indefinitely because they cannot be traced. Officials have conceded that nearly half of the 450,000 "legacy cases" in which the applicants are left in limbo may never be cleared. ... Officials attending a recent meeting were told that half of the 450,000 are "untraceable". (Daily Telegraph, 2.4.07)

UN predicts huge migration to rich countries

At least 2.2 million migrants will arrive in the developed world every year from now until 2050, the United Nations says. Its latest figures predict a global upheaval without parallel in human history over the next four decades. The massive population growth will lead to land degradation on a huge scale and place an immense strain on the limited water resources of poor countries.
     The world's population will grow by 2.5 billion and reach about 9.2 billion by 2050. Almost all of this increase will occur in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Of these, tens of millions will migrate to Europe and America.
     Britain's population will rise from 60 million to approaching 69 million by 2050 - almost entirely because of immigration. (Daily Telegraph, 15.3.07)

Growing problem of cannabis farms

Cannabis cultivation is booming in Britain. Police are raiding three indoor production sites a day and have closed down 1,500 cannabis farms in London alone since 2005. But their success in the capital means quiet residential streets elsewhere in the country now harbour foreign drugs gangs making hundreds of thousands of pounds a year. According to research by the charity DrugScope, up to three-quarters of the farms are run by Vietnamese criminal gangs. (Daily Telegraph, 13.3.07)

We demand control of immigration

Alasdair Palmer

The numbers are breathtaking. Each year 223,000 more people settle in the UK than leave it. If immigration continues at the same rate, it will, given the children they will have, add 16 million people in the next 45 years. That means adding two cities the size of Cambridge every year. Most migrants will settle in the South, because that is where the jobs are. It is difficult to imagine how another 16 million people can be squashed into the area without making it uninhabitable.
     The Government's policy of favouring mass immigration has the potential to change British society radically. And yet the British people have never been consulted: Labour has fought the last three elections without putting anything in its manifesto about immigration. ...
     The Government has committed itself to facilitating mass immigration in total ignorance of the consequences. It is a profoundly irrational and dangerous way to proceed. But if we, the people, do not wrest control of immigration policy back from the Government, we will only have ourselves to blame should it all go horribly wrong. (Sunday Telegraph, 11.3.07)

Britain let in a million foreign workers over three years

More than a million foreigners have been allowed to come to work in Britain in just three years - and given the right to remain indefinitely. They are also entitled to bring their families and settle. ... Between 2004 and last year, a record 309,000 non-EU citizens were granted long-term work permits carrying potential entitlement to settle.
     In the same period, 555,000 eastern Europeans joined the UK's Worker Registration Scheme, while the Home Office estimates that a further 150,000 eastern Europeans have come to Britain as self-employed.
     The figures total slightly more than a million but do not even include the workers' dependants, migrants on short-term work permits, workers from "old EU" countries such as Italy and Portugal, asylum-seekers or illegal immigrants. (Sunday Telegraph, 11.3.07)

Town loses government jobs for being 'too white'

Scores of public sector workers are being relocated from a town because its residents are "too white and British". The Prison Service is moving 80 office staff from the mainly white Corby (93.7% white British), in Northants, to Leicester (59.6%), with its more ethnically diverse workforce. The development is the most startling example of a renewed drive by the Government to employ more blacks and Asians. (Daily Telegraph, 2.3.07)

Immigration 'far higher' than the official figures say

Far more immigrants are coming to Britain than official figures would suggest, according to new research. A report by the City forecaster Capital Economics also predicts that unemployment will rise over the next two years as foreign workers continue to flock to the UK. The study estimates that net migration soared by 400,000 rather than the government figure of 185,000 in 2005.
     The forecasters reckon that the population has risen by 2.5 million over the past 10 years, of which 1.7 million - or almost 70 per cent - was due to net immigration. More than one third of this increase occurred in the last two years alone.
     The last official figures suggested net migration had peaked and had fallen from 223,000 in 2004 to 185,000 in 2005. But the Capital Economics report says it is unwise for business and policy-makers to rely on these statistics. When it included workers from the eight former Soviet bloc states, the overall level of immigration rose to 780,000 in 2005 compared with a government figure of 524,000. (Daily Telegraph, 5.1.07)

Migrants 'add 4p a week' to your pocket

The alleged economic benefit to Britain of record levels of immigration are a myth, new figures suggest. They show a "very slight" gain of around 4p a week for each member of the native population. ... It concluded: "The much vaunted contribution of immigrants to the economy is very slight indeed." ... In addition, high levels of immigration place huge pressure on housing, health and schools and have an increasing impact on employment. (Daily Telegraph, 3.1.07)

£100m translation bill for migrants

Public spending on interpreters and translation for immigrants costs more than £100 million a year. Police forces, councils and hospitals are each spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on translating services that include recycling and anti-smoking advice. ... The increase in the courts service bill alone - now £10 million a year - has trebled over five years. (Daily Telegraph, 14.12.06)

White flight is a fact of British life

In his new book, Time To Emigrate?, George Walden explains to an imaginary, liberal-minded daughter-in-law that she is wrong to deny the existence of white flight from inner-city areas, and to ignore the dangers of ethnic mini-states forming around us. "So is there no solution? The ideal solution is not to have the problem, but we have. A certain level of immigration is natural and desirable. But when things get so out of hand that the Governor of the Bank of England complains that he cannot oversee an economy when no one knows how many people are in the country, then there is a problem. In essence, the Governor, Trevor Phillips and Time To Emigrate? are saying the same thing: that for social, economic and security reasons, a public reappraisal of where we stand on mass immigration - and so far as it has already happened, where we go from here - is dangerously overdue." (Daily Telegraph, 1.12.06)

Half a million east Europeans come to UK seeking jobs

More than half a million east Europeans have come to work in Britain over the past two years in what has become the biggest inward migration in the nation's history. Official figures show that 510,000 people from the eight former Soviet bloc countries that joined the EU in May 2004 have registered for jobs here. But this does not include thousands more who have chosen not to register or who are self-employed and do not have to. (Daily Telegraph, 22.11.06)

Expert warns that migration figures are in a muddle

No one is counting how many migrants come to Britain, how long they stay, or how many are here illegally, says a former Whitehall statistician. Official immigration figures give an "incomplete picture", says Denis Allnutt in his report published by the Home Office. (Sunday Telegraph, 5.11.06)

Immigrants swell the population at a rate of 500 a day

Immigration to Britain is continuing to run at record levels and is adding 500 people a day to the British population, official figures show. ... Sir Andrew Green, chairman of Migrationwatch, said: "These figures confirm that we are facing the largest wave of immigration in our history." He added: "The level is four times that of 1997 and, if these figures are right, the bulk of immigration is not from eastern Europe, which accounts for just over one in five." (Daily Telegraph, 3.11.06)

Racism fear 'stops police challenging suspects'

The fight against terrorism is being hampered because a growing number of police officers are reluctant to stop and search suspects of foreign appearance, says Brian Stockham, the chairman of the Sussex Police Federation, writing in Police Review. He said officers were often reluctant to challenge foreign-looking people for fear of attracting racism complaints which might threaten their career. They were also reticent because of the difficulty they can have in checking a person's immigration status. (Daily Telegraph, 12.10.06)

Drive for multi-faith Britain deepens rifts, says Church

An internal Church of England document, written by the interfaith adviser to the Archbishop of Canterbury, attacks the Government's drive to turn Britain into a multi-faith society, saying that the attempt to make minority "faith" communities more integrated has backfired, leaving society "more separated than ever before". Privileged attention and preferential treatment have been given to the Islamic faith and Muslim communities. (Sunday Telegraph, 8.10.06)

Veiled threats...

Lord Mackenzie, a Labour peer and former head of the Police Superintendents' Association, said the police "tendency to pander to minorities in the name of multiculturalism gets right up the noses of the majority of people in this country". He said: "Officers are looking over their shoulder all the time and being politically correct because they are afraid of being accused of offending minorities. (Sunday Telegraph, 8.10.06)

One in eight pupils speaks English as second language

One in eight primary school pupils now speaks English as a second language. There are now 419,000 primary pupils speaking other languages at home, a rise of 42,000 on last year, and 314,950 secondary pupils, an increase of 16,000, representing nearly one in 10. (Daily Telegraph, 29.9.06)

Up to 80,000 bogus asylum seekers granted 'amnesty'

Up to 80,000 bogus asylum seekers have been granted an 'amnesty' to live in Britain. They have been in the UK for so long the Government has decided not to even bother considering their claims. (Daily Mail, 8.9.06)

10 per cent of people living in Britain were born abroad

One in ten people living in Britain today was born overseas. Since 1997, the number of those born overseas who live here has risen by 1,690,000 - up 42 per cent. The total now stands at 5,699,000; during last year alone, the increase was 405,000. The figures - which run to the end of 2005 - are larger than any previous estimate, but may still hugely understate the true situation. ... (Daily Mail, 28.7.06)

Myth of economic benefit from immigration

Professor Robert Rowthorn, professor of economics, King's College, Cambridge: "As an academic economist, I have examined many serious studies that have analysed the economic effects of immigration. There is no evidence from any of them that large-scale immigration generates large-scale economic benefits for the existing population as a whole. On the contrary, all the research suggests that the benefits are either close to zero, or negative." (Sunday Telegraph, 2.7.06)

Frank Field MP: massive transformation of our population

Current levels of immigration are unsustainable and the issue is being ignored by the government, says former Labour minister Frank Field MP. "This is the most massive transformation of our population. Do we just merely accept this as another form of globalisation? That we are all just following the jobs? If we are not careful, we will be transformed into a global traffic station." (The Guardian, 29.6.06)

£700,000 bill for rural police interpreters

A rural police force had to spend more than £700,000 last year employing interpreters to interview suspects, victims and witnesses. The money - the equivalent of a year's pay for 35 beat bobbies - was spent by the Cambridgeshire police in one year. The police authority said that some of the people the police had to deal with were second or even third generation Britons who did not speak English. (Daily Telegraph, 16.6.06)

Rear Admiral's warning

Britain and Europe face being overrun by mass migration from the Third World within 30 years, says a senior Royal Navy strategist. Rear Admiral Chris Parry forecasts 'reverse colonisation', where migrants become more dominant than their hosts. He said the seeds of the problem were spiralling population growth and environmental destruction. In the competition for resources, many would flee their homelands and head en masse for better places such as Britain. Admiral Parry is head of the Ministry of Defence unit tasked with identifying future threats to Britain's security. He did not claim all the threats would come true, but warned what was likely to happen if problems were not addressed by politicians. (Daily Mail, 12.6.06)

We need immigration like we need a hole in the head

Prof. Aubrey Manning, emeritus professor of natural history, University of Edinburgh, says the UK has a moral obligation to accept some immigration, given the current world situation, "but we need immigration like we need a hole in the head." (Optimum Population Trust, 30.5.06)

Mass migration damaging the planet

Britain should fulfil its humanitarian obligation to genuine refugees and asylum-seekers but it must also recognise that mass international migration is harming the planet's environment as well as its own, according to the Optimum Population Trust.
     OPT says mass international migration exacerbates the world's environmental crisis in several ways. Not only does it mask global population and environment problems by facilitating the abandonment of damaged areas. Migrants also tend to move from low-consuming regions to high-consuming ones. In the process of becoming Western consumers, they raise their ecological footprint, increase their environmental impact and thus accelerate global environmental damage. (Optimum Population Trust, 30.5.06)

Ethnic minorities growing at 15 times the rate of whites

According to research by the Office for National Statistics, Britain's ethnic minorities were growing at 15 times the rate of the white population. Data collected between 1992-1994 and 1997-1999 showed that the number of people from minority ethnic groups grew by 15 per cent compared with one per cent for white people. (Daily Telegraph, 19.5.06)

Migration 'tensions' warning as 2.6m try to enter UK

The Foreign Secretary has revealed that the number of people trying to get into Britain will soar past three million in the next two years. Visa applications will hit 2.6 million this year, said Jack Straw - a figure that does not include asylum seekers or those entering illegally. By 2008, the number of applications is predicted to reach 3.2 million - more than twice as many as in 2000. Mr Straw said this would lead to tensions between communities and states. He admitted that illegal immigration and abuse of the asylum system undermined society and weakened public confidence in the rule of law. (Daily Mail, 29.3.06)

Foreigners account for one in five births in England

One in five of all births in England and Wales - and one in two in London - is to foreign-born mothers. In London, 49 per cent of births in 2004 were to foreign mothers, rising to more than two thirds in five boroughs. Outside the capital the highest proportions were in Slough (48 per cent), Luton (44), Leicester (38) and Birmingham (34). In 2004, one third of a million foreigners arrived to live in Britain. (Daily Telegraph, 5.1.06)

Taboo topic

Thomas Sowell

Europeans and Americans have for decades been playing Russian roulette with their loose immigration policies. The intelligentsia have told us that it would be wrong, and even racist, to set limits based on where the immigrants come from. ...
     In that rhetoric, all differences between peoples are magically transformed into mere "stereotypes" and "perceptions." This blithely ignores hard data showing, for example, that people who come here from some countries are ten times more likely to go on welfare as people from some other countries. ...
     In the current climate of political correctness it is taboo even to mention facts that go against the rosy picture of immigrants - for example, the fact that Russia and Nigeria are always listed among the most corrupt countries on earth, and that Russian and Nigerian immigrants in the United States have already established patterns of crime well known to law enforcement but kept from the public by the mainstream media. (The Social Contract, Fall 2005)

Labour's immigration policy? Lots more of it

Alasdair Palmer

The main source of immigration into Britain is the Government's policy of increasing the numbers of people allowed to settle here from non-EU countries. ... By far the largest portion - nearly 50 per cent - are people given work permits by the Government, and the dependants they bring with them. Labour has increased the number of work permits it issues by a factor of four since 1997. The Work Permits Agency, a branch of the Home Office, has even written to companies asking them if they have thought of recruiting from non-EU countries: it offers them assistance should they wish to do so. ...
     The issue is that the transformation is taking place as the result of a Government policy about which the electorate has not been consulted, or indeed informed. Labour's immigration policy involves a giant social experiment - and it is the people of this country who are the lab rats. ... It is a cynical and shocking subversion of our democracy. (Sunday Telegraph, 24.4.05)

The age of unreason

Leo McKinstry

Even some Labour MPs admit that the current immigration system is a shambles. Roger Godsiff, the MP for Birmingham Sparkbrook and Small Heath, told me that there was a 'culture of institutional chaos' within the system. 'What the immigration authorities are admitting is that they do not have a clue how many people are settling in this country.' ...
     Of course, all right-thinking people are meant to believe that moves towards a multicultural society are a thoroughly welcome development, making Britain more tolerant, vibrant and economically successful. The Tories themselves are only too eager to adopt this approach. 'We are a stronger, more successful country because of the immigrant communities that have settled here,' said Howard in an election speech in Telford.
     That is certainly the line I used to take. Indeed, at the beginning of the Nineties, I could hardly have been more enthusiastic in my support for multiculturalism. As an Islington Labour councillor, I chaired the borough's equal opportunities committee. ... But even in the middle of this activism I began to have my doubts that multiracial immigration was of universal, undiluted benefit. Peckham was a place of fear, where any sense of community had vanished and violent crime was rife.
     Britain was once renowned as a place of gentleness, where even the policemen were unarmed, but we now have urban violence on a scale that would have been unthinkable for the postwar generation of Britons. Some of this is no doubt the result of a degenerate culture, and a reluctance by the police and courts to enforce the law, but some is clearly the long-term result of immigration. According to the British Crime Survey, 31 per cent of all street robberies in Britain are committed by criminals of African-Caribbean origin, while at least 60 per cent of all muggings in London are perpetrated by blacks. ... Black and ethnic minority groups account for 24 per cent of the male and 31 per cent of the female prison population, despite the fact that white defendants are more likely to be found guilty in court. ...
     Ideology has triumphed over objective facts. Righteous unreason is destroying our society. (The Spectator, 23.4.05)

A dreaded card

Peter Simple

The word "racism", always remember, is of quite recent coinage. ... Invested with a powerful charge of evil and with useful Nazi associations, it has been made into an all-purpose bogey word of immense power. It is the key to "political correctness", invented to shame and terrify people into accepting the official policy on immigration. Whether through absent-mindedness, deceit or conspiracy, this policy, approved by both political parties, has in 50 years changed this country from what it had been for centuries and produced a bogus "multiracial society" which hardly anybody asked for or wanted but which all must approve or pretend to approve on pain of moral disgrace.
[Peter Simple was the pen name of Michael Wharton, who died in January 2006] (Daily Telegraph, 28.1.05)

Large-scale immigration has prompted a flood of shoddy economic thinking

Ruth Lea

I would like to dispel a couple of myths about immigration. The first is that large-scale immigration is necessary for buoyant economic growth. But this was most emphatically not the case in post-war Japan. The second is that the native-born British "will not do certain jobs". But they do these jobs in parts of the country where there are very few immigrants.
     Clearly, immigration does bring economic benefits but there are, equally clearly, costs as well. The Government should really be prepared to give us the whole picture. (Daily Telegraph, 19.4.04)

It is an honour and privilege to be British. Let's keep it that way

David Goodhart

People on the Left (and the free-market Right) argue that because globalisation creates free movement of goods and services, we should have free movement of people too. But people are not like goods. Strong societies are about mutual obligations that ripple out from our families and friends, extending, at a weaker level, to all citizens. We place our fellow Britons before the rest of humanity; otherwise we would not spend 25 times more on the NHS than on foreign aid. (The Times, 5.4.04)

Close the door before it's too late: defensive anti-racists can't be allowed to stifle the debate on the dangers of mass migration

David Goodhart

Is it possible to be a progressive and yet have reservations about mass immigration? ...
     ... because Britain is not an immigrant country in the way that America is, it is harder to set out arguments for limiting immigration without thereby seeming to project a negative image of those immigrants, especially from ethnic minorities, who are already here. Being pro-mass immigration is seen as a form of anti-racism. ...
     Migration is now much easier than it used to be, and millions of people would come to live in Britain if they were free to do so; the left must abandon a romantic attachment to open borders and acknowledge that too much openness threatens many of the values it most cherishes. (The Guardian, 19.2.04)

Some truths about immigration

Anthony Browne

The trouble for the government is that while promoting mass immigration might make people feel cosmopolitan and modern, and calling critics racist may make people feel virtuous, few of the consequences of mass immigration have been thought through. The long immigration silence has meant that all negative consequences of migration have been suppressed, and only the positive aspects talked about. If you blind yourself to all negative consequences of a complex policy, you are bound to conclude that it is a thoroughly good thing and want as much of it as possible. Civil servants sat with ministers discussing all the good things about immigration without anyone daring to think any of the bad things, and they concluded that the borders should be pushed wide open. ...
     White flight is ghettoising Britain's cities and fragmenting communities. A totally unpublicised report commissioned by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister last year found that white flight was now a leading cause of internal migration in the UK. In London as a whole, white Britons account for just 60 per cent of the population, and for fewer than half the population in six London boroughs. Mass immigration from the Third World to the cities exacerbates white flight, but the government refuses to face up to the consequences. (The Spectator, 2.8.03)

Barking racists

David Coleman

The problem with 'multicultural' policy is that it is a fundamentalist Utopia. It cannot admit the possibility of conflicts between the values, behaviour and loyalties of immigrant populations and those of the natives, and has no principles for determining which should prevail when incompatibilities arise (both, of course, are equally 'valid'). ... If existing multicultural 'diversity' may now only be uncritically 'celebrated', whatever its manifestations, what justification remains for policies which limit immigration, or for that matter asylum-claiming? (The Spectator, 12.5.01)

Identity crisis

David Coleman

For the first two millennia of the Christian epoch, and indeed for as far back as our brief history is known, the British population has been overwhelmingly white and European in origin. We begin the third millennium with the interesting suggestion that this may change much faster than previously imagined. In Leicester and Birmingham it is forecast that black and Asian populations will be in the majority in relatively few years. The possibility of an eventual black and Asian majority in Britain by the end of the century has even been raised. ...
     How could a white minority even be imaginable, when immigration from Commonwealth countries was supposed to be subject 30 years ago to the same rules as those from any other country? When the Immigration Act 1971 was passed, the population of New Commonwealth origin was about one million. Now it is nearly four million, of whom about half, and the majority of adults, were born outside the UK.
     If minorities remain culturally distinct, a minority 'majority' could transform the way of life of the whole population. Accommodation even of a 7 per cent minority presence has already provoked changes in the education of all children, some reinvention of history, and the imposition of a culture of apology and intrusive ethnic monitoring, not obviously for the better. Legal principles are distorted in the name of anti-racism, fairness compromised to add minority privilege to equality, the constitution targeted on the position of Church, monarch and Parliament. The ordinary population, having lost its hegemony, might find it difficult to preserve much continuity or faith in its own values or future. A long national tradition, developed over many centuries, could diminish for no better reason than its inability to control its own borders. ...
     Most fundamentally, people build their lives, strive to succeed, do public good at least partly in the expectation that their own children should inherit the fruits of their labour and be members of a continuing community, not so that others should inherit the earth. Is that an ignoble sentiment?
     There is no evidence that most people in Britain want the ethnically corporate, officially multicultural state desired by the Runnymede Trust and aggressively promoted by the CRE, or to become a minority in their own country. (The Spectator, 6.1.01)

Inclusion of a viewpoint here does not necessarily indicate agreement with it.

As a more suitable page for printing, the following file can be opened using Microsoft Word:
Short quotations - page for printing (quotes.rtf).