Saw a little bit in the paper this morning, quoting Migration Watch UK - yes, the anti-immigration group. Seemed to be saying that the net financial benefit to the UK of immigration is positive - not negative, as they would usually have you believe.
Of course, they *still* try and make this sound like immigration is A Very Bad Thing. Apparently, the financial benefit to "each member of the native population of the UK from immigration is worth about 4p a week - or less than the equivalent of a small Mars bar a month".
The paper I saw went for the "only a Mars bar" angle too, which is not surprising as it makes for better copy than "immigrants give you money".
You can look at Migration Watch's full story, if you wish.
2 comments:
You've got to admire those Poles. They make it all the way here with millions of fun-sized mars bars on their backs... That's what I call hard working!
The point of Migration Watch’s figures was to dispute Government figures that migrants have contributed 0.5% to GDP over-and-above what would accrue merely by enlarging the population. However, I have a lot more faith in the Government figures – not because I am particularly disposed to believe what comes out of Whitehall, but because they are supported by research from the London School of Economics and have the confidence of the Confederation of British Industry.
These figures not only add up to £5 billion (c. £1.60 per person per week, which under Labour means almost £1 per person that passes through Government hands) but they are also compounded because they are growth figures. In other words, we gain £5 billion in 2005 and £5 billion £100 + annual growth since 2005 every year from hereon in.
That’s a hell of a lot of Mars Bars!
Yes, indeed, I thought the interesting thing was that how ever they played with the figures they couldn't manage to come up with a net loss caused by immigration... I think they *may* have been hoping for an "immigrants cost you a Mars a day" rather than the current confectionery gift we are all receiving.
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