Immigration-Mythbuster-November-20141

IMMIGRATION IN THE UK:
MYTHBUSTER – NOVEMBER 2014

Myth: Immigrants are to blame for the UK’s economic & social problems

Fact: Current housing shortages have been caused by bad decisions from

Government. The banking crisis was caused by bankers. Neither are the fault
of immigrants.

Solution: All the other political parties should stop pandering to UKIP by

scapegoating immigration for all of the UK’s economic problems.

Myth: Britain is full

Fact: The number of European migrants in the UK is almost exactly balanced

by the number of Britons living elsewhere in the EU. According to
Government estimates there is 1.8m Brits living abroad in Europe and 2.34m
EU citizens living in the UK.

- Immigrants make up just over 10% of Britain's population, which is lower than
many other countries like the USA or Australia (Government Figures).

- Although London is crowded, many cities in the north face the opposite
problem.

Solution: The government should focus on investing in economies across

the UK, so there are more job opportunities outside the South East.

Myth: Immigrants are taking all the jobs

Fact: Labour Force Survey data over the past three years shows that

approximately 15% of new hires go to immigrants and 85% to British workers.

- Employers are more likely to give jobs to immigrants only if they are more highly
skilled than their British counterparts (National Institute of Economic and Social
Research).

Solution: The government should embark on a serious job creation project

so everyone who wants to work can.

Myth: Immigrants drive down British workers' wages

Fact: The largest analysis to date has been by the National Institute of

Economic and Social Research. Its findings found that people coming to
Britain from Eastern Europe has only had a tiny impact on real wages, if at all.

Solution: The government should be a) enforcing minimum wage standards

and b) increasing the minimum wage to the level of a living wage. This is one
reason why the Green Party are calling for a £10 living wage by 2020.

Myth: Immigrants only come to the UK to claim benefits

Fact: An economic study by the University of London found that people

coming to Britain from Eastern Europe, for example, were 60% less likely to
receive benefits or live in social housing than people born in the UK

- Some immigrants abuse the benefit system – but not as much as Britons. The
Governments own figures show that migrants are about half as likely to be in
receipt of a DWP out-of-work benefit as people born here.

- Freedom of movement within the EU contributes £60bn To UK Economy
(Centre for Economics and Business Research)

- A November 2014 report by UCL’s Centre for Research and Analysis of
Migration found that European migrants made a net contribution of £20bn to
UK public finances.

Solution: Migrants contribute more to our economy than they take out so

the Government should ensure that immigrants can work and pay tax which
would support the welfare state.

Myth: The UK is a soft touch on asylum seekers/the country is flooded with

asylum seekers

Fact: Asylum claims in the UK are 33% below the EU average, with the UK

accounting for just 9% of asylum claims in Europe - the lowest proportion in
over a decade (Government figures).

Solution: Britain should remain a place where people fleeing persecution

from places such as Syria can come to find safety.