count them in, count ’em out
Do you know what, I really don’t know where I stand on immigration. The Liberal within me wants free entry to economic migrants, those seeking political asylum, students entering for a better education, and their dependants. On the one hand, I want Great Britain to be an open, free and welcoming place to those seeking to make their home here. But then there’s the darker side of me that wants to limit access to who absolutely need to come here for safety’s sake and to those who will definitively benefit the economy or society by doing so. This is the side of me that is mindful of the pressure placed upon our social service provision that can be caused by excessive immigration and worries about the impact this has upon the nation’s collective purse.
Immigration is probably the one contentious area where the phrase ‘lies, damn lies and statistics’ really does come into its own and both sides are able use such figures to justify their relative position. It’s the one which we also tippy-toe around hoping to avoid the racist and bigot accusation. So where does the truth lie?
During the last six years the immigration figure has remained pretty constant, between 560,000 and 590,000 and much of this figure can potentially be married back to when the EU expanded its boundaries to include eight more nations from Central and Eastern Europe. The counter figure of emigration from the UK has however fallen to approximately 370,000 and it’s the net difference in these two figures, around 200,000, that is the actual figure of increase. Cumulatively, over the last dozen or so years this equates to about 2 million immigrants, an increase in population of approximately 3.5%. This figure, the 200,000 per year, is the one which the coalition wants to reduce to ‘tens of thousands’.
The recently introduced cap applies only to migrants from outside Europe, and to those entering on work permits. Of these there are two types: those who have no specific job to go to but do possess an ‘exceptional talent’ such as an MBA, a desirable skill or Nobel laureate, apply for a Tier 1 visa; whilst those who do have a job and also meet a given skill level, apply for a Tier 2. Last year these cumulative tiers accounted for the grand total of 28,000. The radical and revolutionary coalition have restricted this to a smidgen under 22,000. Not that radical and revolutionary then? No. This level of migration accounts for only 5% of total migration and the cap will reduce the overall amount by the incredulous level of 1%. What a con.
The reality of migration is that for many of those entering the UK the Government can do precious little about. If the coalition were being sincere about stated intent and truly wanted to follow through on their election promises the two sections they need to address are dependents and students. Dependents (spouses, children, cousins, grandparents etc.) number over 60,000 each year and non-EU students, in excess of 310,000.
Even to Liberal old me those sound high numbers but regulating both, particularly students, presents an interesting dilemma. Contrary to what the Torygraph may want you the believe, the vast majority attend bona-fide private colleges, schools and universities and contribute an estimated £8.5Bn in fees and economic activity to the economy. In today’s austerity climate that would be sorely missed. With regards to dependents, the coalition would do worse than re-instate the ‘primary purpose’ law which turned away those it deemed had married specifically to obtain British citizenship and hence, entry in the UK. It certainly has to tighten the definitions applied to ‘dependent’ to be at least in line with the rest of Europe. Fixing this however will entail the major change to a more organised, bureaucratic, and therefore costly, system. So much for smaller Government.
Mind, I still don’t know where I stand!
