Immigration brings ‘marginal’ benefits to UK
Immigrants only “marginally” benefit the UK economically, a pressure group has said.
Migrationwatch, which argues for controlled immigration to the UK, calculates that migrants do benefit the economy – but only to the tune of 4p a week per person.
The group questions whether this “at best marginal” benefit is worth the added strain migrants place on public services such as hospitals and schools.
“The contribution of immigrants to the economy is very slight indeed. Many immigrants make a useful contribution to the economy, but taken in total the benefit is at best marginal,” said Migrationwatch chairman Andrew Green.
“The main beneficiaries are the migrants themselves, who are able to send home about £10 million a day.”
He added: “If we are to have the mature and thorough debate that ministers have been calling for let us start off with an honest and realistic assessment of the costs and benefits of the highest levels of immigration in our history.”
The government has defended its immigration policies, saying “overall, migration is good for employment and good for the economy”.
Official government figures show migration increasing the UK’s output by £4 billion and making up ten to 15 per cent of Britain’s economic growth.
“In the last few years we have seen a large movement of people from the EU coming here to work. There is a clear consensus from commentators, business, and our own research, that this has helped the economy to grow,” a Home Office spokesperson said.
But this was not enough for the Conservatives.
“The figures in this report contrast sharply with what the government claim and betray a chronic deficit of information on immigration,” said shadow home secretary David Davis.
“Immigration can be a real benefit to the country but only if it is properly controlled . . . Ministers need to stop sticking their heads in the sand and start facing up to this issue so that it can be of benefit to the country.”
However, the Liberal Democrats felt the Migrationwatch report was too simplistic.
“London’s health and transport systems alone would collapse without the services of migrant workers,” said Lib Dem home affairs spokesman Nick Clegg.
“This so-called study doesn’t even attempt to calculate how many pennies that is worth to each and every one of us.”
