Net migration leaps by nearly 100,000
According to the latest figures published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) net migration has rocketed to 243,000 in the last year, an increase of nearly 100,000.Between September 2009 and September 2010 net migration rose from 147,000 to 243,000. Net migration is the total number of people who came to the United Kingdom minus the number of people who left to live abroad.
This huge increase is in part down to the fall in the number of people leaving the country as 50,000 fewer people left compared to the year before.
According the the ONS figures a large part of the increase comes from increased arrivals from Easter Europe, and notably Poland. Arrivals from these countries have risen from 45,000 to 72,000 while those going home have fallen from 57,000 to 29,000. This takes net migration from Poland back to the levels last seen in September 2008.
It is important to note that this rise occurred before migrants from these countries were given full treaty rights to work in the UK. This means you should be wary of any announcement from the UKBA in the future about the rise in migration from the Accession states being due to the grant of full working rights.
The ONS also noted that immigration to Britain for work-related reasons was little changed in the year to September 2010 but the numbers of those coming to study had risen by 30%.
Visa capping
Damian Green, the immigration minister, has declared these figures as justification for the recent and drastic changes to the UK immigration system. He said: “These statistics cover a period before we introduced our first changes to the immigration system. We have now put in place an annual limit on those that can come to work from outside the EU and significant reforms to the foreign student route.
“Next we are looking to break the link between temporary and permanent migration and review the family route, which we will do later this year.
However, Matt Cavanagh, associate director of the Institute of Public Policy Research, predicted that the government would now take even tougher measures.
Because of the large fall in emigration the government will have to force larger reductions on the student and skilled workers channels for migrants from outside the EU. The very real danger is that they will cause significant damage to the UK economy for the sole purpose of meeting the political target of reducing net migration.
Social