Migrant numbers fall

The number of Eastern Europeans applying to work in the UK has fallen to its lowest level since 2005, according to statistics released by the Home Office today.

The figures show that in January to March 2008 there were 45,000 applications from nationals of the eight countries that joined the EU in 2004 – down 13 per cent from the same period in the previous year, when there were 52,000.

In a related development, the number of asylum applications to the UK has also fallen from 8,140 in the last quarter of 2007 to 7,705 in the first quarter of this year.

Overall asylum applications have fallen by one per cent while in Europe as a whole they rose by 13 per cent.