31 October 2007 Daily Mail

Daily Mail article

Migrant jobs fiasco: Official estimate goes from 800,000 to 1.5m in 24 hours

By STEVE DOUGHTY and KIRSTY WALKER

Last updated at 10:17am on 31st October 2007

The number of jobs being snapped up by migrants has been greatly underestimated, Ministers had to admit yesterday.

An official figure was virtually doubled - but critics said the true total was higher still.

In a day of confusion, Whitehall departments contradicted each other as the issue threatened to become a full scale Government crisis.

The chaos appeared to undermine Gordon Brown's pledge of "British jobs for British workers".

The row followed a claim by Work and Pensions Secretary Peter Hain that 2.7million jobs had been created under Labour, of which only 800,000 had gone to people from overseas.

Challenged by former Labour Minister Frank Field, however, Mr Hain revised the figure to 1,100,000.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said later that this still meant the majority of new jobs had gone to Britons.

But the Department of Work and Pensions had already quietly issued a "clarification" admitting that foreigners had taken a majority, 52 per cent.

And yet another official figure, this time from the Government's own Office for National Statistics, put the total of migrant workers at 1.5million.

Ministers are painfully aware that public concern over immigration is running high, following greatly-increased official population projections last week and the decision of Tory leader David Cameron to call for migration quotas and limits.

At least 40 local councils have complained to the Government that an influx of migrants means their populations have been underestimated and they cannot afford to pay for school places, social services or everyday activities like waste collection.

Hospitals and schools are under huge pressure and ministers are expected soon to increase their estimate that immigration is responsible for a third of demand for housing.

The UK population is officially expected to grow by 10 million over the next 25 years, with seven million of that the result of immigration.

A senior Bank of England expert, Professor David Blanchflower, warned yesterday that immigration was creating a fear of unemployment and as a result wages were being pushed down.

Opposition MPs were scathing about the everchanging figures.

Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said: "It is not good enough for the home secretary to apologise.

"The government should be open about telling the truth before they are pressurised into it.

"Immigration policy has been out of control for a decade and, if you can't count migration, you certainly can't control it."

Tory Work and Pensions spokesman Chris Grayling, said: "This just gets worse.

"It is clear we simply can't trust the figures or statements put out by the Government on migrant workers in the UK.+

Full Daily Mail article
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30 October 2007 the Scotsman

The Scotsman article

300,000 more foreign workers than believed, as Cameron vows to limit migrants

TANYA THOMPSON

SOCIAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT

PETER Hain apologised last night after admitting there were 300,000 extra foreign nationals working in the UK than the government previously believed.

The revelation means foreign nationals have taken 40.7 per cent of the 2.7 million new jobs created since 1997.

The Work and Pensions Secretary admitted that incorrect figures were previously given in response to questions in the House of Commons and parliamentary written answers.

The figure for the rise in foreign nationals working in the UK since 1997 was revised from 800,000 to 1.1 million. They now account for 7-8 per cent of the 29.1 million people in work in the UK.

Mr Hain yesterday wrote to his Tory shadow, Chris Grayling, to apologise and said that the new figure was the most "robust estimate available".

But Mr Grayling branded the admission "an extraordinary development".

He said: "The fact that the government did not know the true number of overseas workers who have come to the UK in the past ten years is profoundly worrying and confirms fears that ministers have simply lost control of our systems for migrant workers. It really does call into question the competence of ministers and of the government as a whole."

Sir Andrew Green, the chairman of Migrationwatch, which campaigns against mass immigration, said that "300,000 is equivalent to the entire city of Coventry".

"It is impossible to have a sensible discussion on immigration if the government keeps getting its figures hopelessly wrong."

Full The Scotsman article
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22 October 2007 Daily Mail

Daily Mail article

Immigration set to increase Britain's population by a third

By JAMES SLACK

Last updated at 10:49am on 22nd October 2007

The UK population will increase by a third, to 81million, in the lifetime of children born today, experts predict.

They say the rise, fuelled by immigration and higher birth rates, will put enormous strain on schools, hospitals and other public services.

The forecast of a 21million increase by 2074 comes from economics professor Robert Rowthorn of Cambridge University.

In evidence to Parliament, he said: "Large-scale immigration will lead to a rapid and sustained growth in population, with negative economic and environmental consequences in the form of overcrowding, congestion, pressure on housing and public services and loss of environmental amenities.

"It also undermines the labour market position of the most vulnerable and least skilled sections of the local workforce, including many in the ethnic minority population, who must compete against the immigrants."

The professor also said there was no evidence to back the Government's ecomomic case for allowing large numbers of people to move here.

COMMENT: Lies that created a soaring population

Professor Rowthorn says immigration is currently adding 205,000 to the population every year. Migrants are mostly young and many start families here.

These two factors alone, he said, would take the population to 77million by 2074.

But even this could be an under-estimate, he believes, as fertility rates in the UK are increasing - itself partly the result of migrants having more children.

Once this is factored in, the population projection reaches 81million by 2074.+

Full Daily Mail article
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17 October 2007 Express

Express article

THE MIGRATION REPORT LABOUR WANTED TO HIDE

Wednesday October 17,2007

Tom Whitehead and Tony Bonnici

LABOUR’S open door on immigration has piled huge pressure on our towns and cities, the Government finally admitted yesterday.

The hundreds of thousands who have flooded into the UK have affected housing, health, cohesion, education and crime, a damning report revealed.

The startling picture comes from groups and officials working on the ground and provides the clearest indication yet of the impact on our resources from Labour’s policies.

It echoes what local authorities, opposition groups and the police have long been warning.

But the Government was last night accused of spin and trying to mask the devastating report after issuing it at the very end of the day.

It was released several hours after a separate report on the economic impact of migration claimed that newcomers were an enormous benefit to the country, boosting the economy by £6billion a year. That was slammed as a whitewash.

Shadow Home Secretary, David Davis, said: “This confirms what everyone knows but what Labour have been in denial about – that immigration has a real impact on the housing and public service infrastructure.”

Full Express article

Hazel Blears

She also angered many town hall leaders when, referring to the impact of immigration, she said: “There are lots of parts of Britain that are not populated hardly at all. I think the sense that we are full indicates we have absolutely no room left.”

Full Express article
National Trust against homes plan 
The National Trust is to set itself up in direct opposition to the government's house-building programme.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has pledged to build three million more homes by 2020 to tackle the housing crisis.
Full BBC article
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Posted 09 October 2007: Dated 29 September 2007 This is London

This is London article

10,000 council houses given to immigrants in a year

Immigrants were given the keys to 10,000 council houses last year.

The Government figures reveal the pressures which immigration is putting on housing and public services.

Foreign nationals are legally entitled to social housing - including housing association properties - after spending more than four years in the UK or successfully claiming asylum.

Some EU migrants are also entitled to be given taxpayer-subsidised houses, which are in short supply nationwide.

Last year only 25,596 new social housing homes were built.

The figures, released in a written reply to Tory MP James Clappison, represent around 5 per cent of all lettings to new social housing tenants last year.

The average cost of social housing is £133,941 a home.

The Government contributes an average of £62,000 of taxpayers' cash with the rest coming from developers or social landlords.

Based on those figures the value of the homes given to foreign nationals was £1.3billion - including a £ 620million subsidy from the public purse.

Councils allocate accommodation on the basis of need, with homes more likely to go to families who are homeless or have young children.

Those who were given social housing include 267 people from new EU member states in eastern Europe.

The figures will reignite the debate over who receives council housing.

Earlier this year, Government minister Margaret Hodge said established British families should be given priority over economic-migrants.

She called for a rethink of social housing policy, to take account of length of residence, citizenship and national insurance contributions. +

Full this is London article
See also Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Hazel Blears
She also angered many town hall leaders when, referring to the impact of immigration, she said: “There are lots of parts of Britain that are not populated hardly at all. I think the sense that we are full indicates we have absolutely no room left.”
Full Express article
BBC article
National Trust against homes plan 
The National Trust is to set itself up in direct opposition to the government's house-building programme.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has pledged to build three million more homes by 2020 to tackle the housing crisis.
Full BBC article
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Posted 27 September 2007: Dated 26 September This is London

This is London  article

Boy 'who was attacked' by Slovakian woman may face racism charge

26.09.07

A boy of ten who claims to have been attacked by a Slovakian woman with an iron bar could be charged with inciting racial hatred, it emerged last night.

Jake Stedman admitted that the woman hit him after he threw a berry at her and told her to 'go back to her own country'.

As a result, the boy - who was left with two black eyes - could become the youngest person in the country ever to be charged with the offence.

A police source said: "There have been allegations that he used racist language and it is necessary for us to investigate the claims."

The Slovakian woman involved, 35, was arrested and could face assault charges.

Jake, a white English pupil, attends Luton Junior School in Chatham, Kent. The school is so riven by racial tension after an influx of Slovakian and other eastern-European children that four police patrol the gates every day.

On Saturday, one week after the alleged assault, two teenage girls were arrested for throwing stones at and abusing a Slovakian man just yards from the school. +

Full This is London article
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Posted 26 September 2007: Dated 12 July 2007 Daily Mail

Daily Mail article

Another foreigner gets a UK passport every five minutes

By JAMES SLACK - More by this author »

Last updated at 09:41am on 12th July 2007

Comments (10)

More than a million British passports have been issued to immigrants over the past decade according to new Government figures.

The 1,020,510 total - an average of 102,000 every year - means an immigrant is granted British citizenship every five minutes.

That equates to 12 people being approved for citizenship every hour, the Conservatives said, based on staff working round the clock.

In addition, the number of applications approved in 2006, 154,000, was almost four times higher than in the last full year of Tory rule in 1996.

The research will reignite demands for tougher rules and for citizenship to be a "privilege not a right".

Under current rules, even heinous criminals - including murderers and rapists - can be approved for a passport if they wait for a "clear period" before applying.

The one million applications approved by Labour includes July 21 bomb ringleader Muktar Said Ibrahim, whose bid was rubberstamped despite a string of criminal convictions.

Last night Conservative immigration spokesman Damian Green said the number of passports being handed out by the Government, including those to convicted criminals, was "extraordinary".

Mr Green added: "These figures show why it is so necessary to tighten our security controls.

"A new British passport is granted every five minutes, so we need to be absolutely sure that each one is going to someone who wants to play a positive role in this country."

Image graph 

Yesterday Gordon Brown became embroiled in the citizenship row by claiming Ibrahim's case "would not happen now and he would not get citizenship of this country".

But Home Office documents reveal the Prime Minister was wrong and a criminal with identical convictions to the terrorist would still be entitled to a passport today.

Full Daily Mail article

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21 September 2007 Telegraph article

Telegraph article

Police chief warns of migrant crime impact

By Sally Peck and agencies

Last Updated: 3:56am BST 21/09/2007

A chief constable has demanded more staff for her force to help cope with the effect on crime of the rise in migrant workers.

·  Video: Chief constable calls for more resources

·  Have your say: Is Julie Spence right to speak out on migrant crime issues?

·  Multi-culturalism 'is leaving Britain fractured'

Julie Spence of Cambridgeshire Police said more officers were needed to cope with complex problems posed by an influx of migrant workers following the expansion of the European Union.

She warned it could take as much as three times longer for officers to deal with a crime involving a migrant worker.

The chief constable said immigrants often arrived with "different standards" from those in the UK, most notably over issues such as carrying knives and drink-driving, which has seen a 17-fold rise in arrests of foreigners in a year.

Mrs Spence said crime investigations could now involve trips abroad to interview relatives, and steep bills for interpreters. Officers must now be equipped to deal with people who speak a range of close to 100 languages, she said.

There is also a problem with "feuds" between foreign nationals being brought across to the UK, Mrs Spence told BBC Radio 4.

"We recently had a murder and it was a Lithuanian on Lithuanian and it could easily have happened in Lithuania.

Full Telegraph article

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Immigration policy blammed

Teletext report 

17 September 2007 The Guardian

Guardian article

Tories hit at EU migrants who get benefits for children abroad

Michael White
Monday September 17, 2007

The Guardian

The Conservatives stepped up their campaign against the government's European policies yesterday by revealing that 14,000 recent EU migrants from eight new member states are claiming child benefit for children who do not live in Britain.

The move comes as the Tory leadership joins forces with anti-EU lobbies to press for a referendum on the reform treaty which succeeded the constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters.

The legal right of EU citizens living in Britain to claim the benefit - £18.10 a week for the eldest child, £12.10 for others - for such absent children is costing the taxpayers at least £250,000 a week, according to a survey by Philip Hammond, the shadow work and pensions secretary.

Earlier answers from Whitehall departments suggest that 68,000 migrants from eastern European states which joined the EU in 2005 have successfully claimed British child benefit.+
 

Full Guardian article

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14 September 2007 This is London

This is London article

EU chiefs want to let in an extra 20 million immigrants from Africa and Asia

14.09.07

Britain faces being swamped by a wave of new migrants after EU chiefs announced yesterday they want to let in an extra 20 million workers from Asia and Africa.

Skilled migrants would be granted special 'blue cards' giving them the right to settle in member states, including Britain - if the Government agrees.

Britain has an 'opt-in' to ideas from Brussels it supports and is not bound by EU policy on immigration and asylum.

But a blue card - similar to the green cards issued by the US - could circumvent any opt-out by Britain.

The card would entitle skilled migrants to work in a member state for two years and then move to a second EU country after two or three years.

The workers could apply to stay permanently after five consecutive years in any EU state.

Opponents said that even if Britain opts out of the Commission's proposal, it will not stop many of the migrants coming here eventually.

Once they gain citizenship of another EU country they are entitled to free movement throughout the 27 member states.

Home affairs commissioner Franco Frattini said an influx of migrants was needed to plug skills gaps in the EU economy caused by a declining, ageing population. 

And he called on member states to stop viewing immigration as a threat and erecting barriers to arrivals. The reforms could more than double the EU's foreign-born population by 2030.

The resident population of non-EU citizens in EU countries was about 18.5million last year - almost 4 per cent of the total population.

The Tories opposed the move last night. Shadow Home Secretary, David Davis, said: "The fact that under these proposals anyone who has lived for five years anywhere in the EU would be allowed to stay permanently makes a mockery of any Government claim they have the option of opting in to this.

"Since this would be likely to be in addition to already large-scale immigration, the stress placed on housing, public services and community relations in the UK would be enormous.

"We would introduce an explicit annual limit on the numbers of non-EU migrants who can come to the UK which would be set by Parliament.

"It is vital that the Government retains complete control over who is allowed to come to the UK and should not allow the EU to create loopholes or back doors that would make a mockery of a sensible well balanced immigration system." +

Full This is London article
National Trust against homes plan 
The National Trust is to set itself up in direct opposition to the government's house-building programme.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has pledged to build three million more homes by 2020 to tackle the housing crisis.
Full BBC article

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10 September 2007 Times on line

Times on line article

England's green and peaceful land fading fast

Valerie Elliott, Countryside Editor

The English countryside is shrinking rapidly, and much of it could disappear within 80 years unless there are curbs on new developments.

Alarm over the loss of undisturbed areas of the landscape is being raised today by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE). It has commissioned new maps charting the pace of construction that has changed the landscape since the early 1960s.

The striking images show that almost 50 per cent of England is now disturbed by roads, industrial developments, out-of-town retail and business parks and new housing estates.

Full Times on line article
BBC article
National Trust against homes plan 
The National Trust is to set itself up in direct opposition to the government's house-building programme.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has pledged to build three million more homes by 2020 to tackle the housing crisis.
Full BBC article

You might think that a Union of 4 small nations would share this burden. After all, as the quote above says, the need is to “to tackle a housing shortage in the UK”. But it seems that England alone is to be covered in concrete. The vast, barren and empty slices of Scotland and Wales will not succumb to the sound of scaffolding being erected in every corner. But in England, already bursting to the brim with people and overpopulated with immigrants pouring in, it looks like building sites are going to be hard to miss.+ 
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