| Immigration and its benefits |
| Written by Richard Howard | |
| Monday, 19 February 2007 | |
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A report in today's Financial Times highlights the fact that British citizens have become considerably more uneasy about immigration. 47% of Britons believe that migration by workers within the EU has been negative for the economy and 76% would like to see stricter controls on workers from central and eastern Europe entering the country. With such a pessimistic view of immigrants, it is ironic then that 45% of people said that they would consider quitting Britain to work in another EU country. The views expressed by the respondents in the poll would seem to suggest that the scaremongering of the tabloid press has drowned out the upside to immigration put forward by politicians and economists. However, in this instance, people should be listening to the politicians because there is great evidence that immigration is indeed good for Britain: immigrants are net contributors to the state, paying more taxes than they take in benefits; immigrants tend to move when they are younger and hence improve the demographics of the country; and they expand economic growth without contributing to inflationary pressure, allowing Gordon Brown to increase his estimate for growth from 2.5% to 2.75%. Immigration is good for Britain on many levels and it is highly arguable that people who want to work here and benefit the British economy should be allowed in. The disingenuous points system being implemented for immigrants from Romania and Bulgaria to give preference to skilled professionals and entrepreneurs would keep out the likes of "low skilled" workers from Poland that have so benefited the economy. Legal immigration has been a major boost for Britain but politicians are unlikely to let progress stand in the way of populism, so something needs to be done to put the British people on the same page as the economists. If the politicians do indeed follow the mood of the public, we will see the implementation of many more immigration barriers which will could prove very damaging for Britain and the British economy. Comments (0)
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