There, it’s done. As of 11pm on 31 January 2020, the UK left the world’s largest and most successful trading bloc. Whether you feel joyful, miserable, or indifferent to this monumental event (historians will now enjoy decades of analysis), it is undeniable that one of the reasons 51% of British people chose to leave the European Union was immigration. To many, “Take Back Control” specifically referred to taking back control of our borders.
The poisonous headlines from right-wing tabloids such as the Daily Mail, Express, and the Telegraph (which still claims to be a broadsheet, but its contents shows otherwise), give the impression that immigration has been the downfall of Britain.
In fact, the opposite is true.
And here are the facts to prove it.
According to some media publications and people on the street, immigrants to Britain somehow manage to steal all the good jobs, whilst simultaneously claiming unemployment benefits. Oh, and they never leave the house they have leapfrogged over the waiting list for, except to visit the GP (meaning there is no doctor’s appointments available for British people) and fill the local school with their 10-plus children family.
This is utter garbage.
According to the paper, The Fiscal Impact of Immigration on the UK, produced by Oxford Economics, European migrants living in the UK contribute £2,300 more to the public purse than the average UK adult, equating to around £78,000 over the average time an EU citizen spends in Britain. EU migrants who arrived in 2016 will make a total net positive contribution of £26.9 billion to the country’s public finances over the entirety of their stay.
Regarding benefits, as of February 2015 (one year before the referendum), EU migrants represented 2.2% of people claiming Work and Pensions benefits. Furthermore, migrants from the Eastern European countries that joined the EU after 2004 are more likely to be working than any other group in Britain.
According to a 2019 Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) study, most EU migrants are young. An estimated 21% of those born in the UK were 65 years or over in 2018, compared with 10% of migrants. Given these statistics, it is difficult to see how young, fit people are clogging up GP services and hospital waiting lists. As we age, our immune system becomes more sluggish and we take longer to bounce back from illness or injury. And the risk of developing a critical illness, such as cancer, stroke, and heart disease increases with age. It is the UK’s ageing population that is stretching the NHS, not EU migrants.
Ironically, it is EU migrants (and those from other countries) who prevent the NHS from collapsing under the strain of an ageing population. Of the one million people working full-time in healthcare roles in NHS hospitals in March 2019, 6% were EU nationals and 8% were non-EU nationals. And these figures do not include support staff.
Social care in Britain also massively benefits from our European friends. Around 8% of those who care for our vulnerable and disabled are EU migrants. The MAC has recently warned that the social care sector is already facing major recruitment problems.
It is clear that rather than placing a drain on Britain’s health services, migrants from all over the world selflessly dedicate themselves to helping us all keep well.
People from other nations have always flocked to Britain. A country that rejects multi-culturalism is a colourless place to live. New immigration routes such as the Global Talent route , the Innovator Visa, and the Startup Visa will provide a way for people from the EU who want to come to Britain to live and work in the country after free movement ends.
“We have become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic.” – Jimmy Carter
Based in Birmingham and London, UK Migration Lawyers is one of Britain’s premier immigration law firms. Please phone our office on 0121 777 7715 to make an appointment with one of our immigration Solicitors.
