Government study: immigration has had little or no benifit to the UK

[LoZz]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7322825.stm

Record levels of immigration have had "little or no impact" on the economic well-being of Britons, an influential House of Lords committee has said.

It says competition from immigrants has had a negative impact on the low paid and training for young UK workers, and has contributed to high house prices.

however, the primeminster has said.

Gordon Brown says immigration is good for the UK and has rejected suggestions that an annual limit is needed.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7324485.stm

honestly some times i think the government lives in its own little world at times.

[removeduser_426582376423734]

Although immigration back in the 50s right up to the 70s and 80s was of economic benefit, today it is becoming a hindrance. I think it is totally fair to accept a harsher policy on immigration, but whether a simple cap is good enough I don't know. Gordon Brown's points system seems far more efficient and good for the UK:

Mr Brown says the concerns raised are already being tackled by a new points based system that will only allow highly skilled workers into the UK

[LoZz]

Although immigration back in the 50s right up to the 70s and 80s was of economic benefit, today it is becoming a hindrance. I think it is totally fair to accept a harsher policy on immigration, but whether a simple cap is good enough I don't know. Gordon Brown's points system seems far more efficient and good for the UK:

its early days with the points. we wont know if its working for a couple of years.
and it doesnt apply to eastern europeans i dont think

[Lord Consul]

and it doesnt apply to eastern europeans i dont think

It does not. They are EU citizens, after all.

[Carach]

Although immigration back in the 50s right up to the 70s and 80s was of economic benefit, today it is becoming a hindrance.

i used to get called a racist here for making such comments.

as mentioned though; the ludicrious welfare system that labour have furthered in their time in power needs to be fully revised, immigration reduced.

[removeduser_426582376423734]

i used to get called a racist here for making such comments.

as mentioned though; the ludicrious welfare system that labour have furthered in their time in power needs to be fully revised, immigration reduced.

But that's just because I hated you.

Yes I am British, no I am not an economist, but one thing I've learned is that you can't always trust the judgement of governmental reports; the people writing them have agendas too y'know? The economy as a whole benefits from immigration greatly, though I have to agree that the average low paid Brit is probably getting the short straw; though for a good reason. Immigrant workers do work harder in my experience. I work with two eastern European girls, both of which get the job done with far less moaning, and far more efficiency than my English counterparts; an experience I've had in a few places now, and that's why companies hire them, not only for pay reasons. Reading William the Bastard's post, I agree with his points there. The British have gotten complacent; it's a cancer that has affected all kinds of aspects of Britain.

Sure, immigration may cause more efficiency, but does that really mean it should be allowed to continue unchecked? Less efficiency may hurt the upper classes but the lower classes, with less competition, may be healed and equality, in terms of money, may be furthered. In the end, immigrants are good because they provide cheap labour - stereotyping all immigrants as hard-working isn't really fair because a) some aren't and b) some native Brits are harder workers.

[Carach]

But that's just because I hated you.

u say it in past tense as if u dont anymore?

[removeduser_426582376423734]

u say it in past tense as if u dont anymore?

I say it in the past tense as I don't accuse you of racism anymore.

Well no, I am generalising I suppose, but I generally feel there's too many Brits that take too much for granted; those who enter the country generally come from far less developed support systems and appreciate it better. I'm a firm believer in the place of benefits and other support systems in the UK, though I wont argue it has softened some Brits to the idea of working properly.

I suppose the important thing to remember is that there's no such thing as a perfect country. Both our benefits systems and immigration do need reforming; but mostly because areas like this are always in need of reforming.

But you miss out one very important problem. Say you have 5 people. 2 of those 5 is lazy. You have enough provisions for 6 people. So you bring in 2 more to compensate for your 2 lazy people. Now you have 7 but you can only provide for 6. Do you kick out the lazy natives? Maybe one of the 2 immigrants was lazy? Do you send him back and look for another? Or do you do like I've suggested already with the points system and bring in only those who are qualified, can find a job without competing, and has other qualities (e.g. speaks English well enough).

[danzig]

I dont understand how any government Brit, US or whoever cant seem to grasp that it is a good idea to control the influx of people into a country. Imagine being married and having a baby, fine and dandy fairly easy to handle now imagine being married and your wife having quadtriplets and see how easy it is to manage.

[Captain Arrrgh!]

I dont understand

Dan, my man, if only you'd conceeded this ages ago!
waka waka waka

how any government Brit, US or whoever cant seem to grasp that it is a good idea to control the influx of people into a country. Imagine being married and having a baby, fine and dandy fairly easy to handle now imagine being married and your wife having quadtriplets and see how easy it is to manage.

This is a common thought stream. 'Why can't they see?' or "How come they're so stupid regarding X".
Because, brothers and sisters, their agenda differs greatly than the daily bottle milk serving of news we ingest. They know exactly what they're doing. The don't give a doodly squat about immigration, unprotected borders, et all. As a matter of fact, it fits well into the next round of the thesis of the dialectic.

[Bwaho]

But Dr Danny Sriskandarajah, head of migration at the Institute for Public Policy Research, said that to say there were no economic benefits was "simplistic and misleading".

"Recent immigration has brought immense benefits to the UK in terms of economic growth, increased competitiveness and the delivery of public services," he said.

so who are we to believe?

[removeduser_426582376423734]

LoZz: Even so, its far more complicated than a simple cap for immigrants. Just saying "all right, a 5 thousand of you in, rest of you out" is very inefficient - maybe those first 5 thousand were lazy gits and the next were brain surgeons? Hyperbolic example but you see the point. The points system, although slow moving, could be extremely advantageous.

[Stalins Ghost]

To say immigration isn't beneficial to Britain is pretty stupid frankly. While the process is not without its faults, you've got to bare in mind that Britain is, and always has been built on immigration. As usual the right answer lies somewhere in the middle of the "let 'em all in!" and "kick 'em out!" camps, rather than soley within them.

[Yorkshireman]

To say immigration isn't beneficial to Britain is pretty stupid frankly. While the process is not without its faults, you've got to bare in mind that Britain is, and always has been built on immigration.

I'm not sure thats entirely true. Voluntary mass immigration did'nt start until the 1950's/60's.

[antares24]

To say immigration isn't beneficial to Britain is pretty stupid frankly. While the process is not without its faults, you've got to bare in mind that Britain is, and always has been built on immigration. As usual the right answer lies somewhere in the middle of the "let 'em all in!" and "kick 'em out!" camps, rather than soley within them.

i agree with others that your statement about britain being built on immigration is much more true for the US.
This report is interesting, i wonder if they also calculated the added expense for security, extra work for the police, the judiciary etc related to immigration, that must be a lot of money (for example in my country 2/3 of prisons inmates are immigrants, i don't know the figure about the UK), the expence for health care of illegals etc.
I really think that a much more controlled immigration system, were we only take the amount of persons we need for the various sectors of our economies is needed across the whole Europe.

[Cleisthenes]

American here. I completely support H1-B visas. I've known tremendously talented guys, one of whom was my roommate in college, to be sent back because they couldn't get an H1-B visa. Meanwhile, we allow greasy peasants to cross the borders illegally.

While the process is not without its faults, you've got to bare in mind that Britain is, and always has been built on immigration.

¿Que?

You mean like, the Normans and Saxons "immigrating" into England? That's a stretch. America is the land of talented immigrants, not Britain. Get your own damn schtick, limey.

[Giorgos]

Immigration, when controlled in beneficial. Unchecked, it has the potential of wrecking a nation.
In all fairness, i do not believe that over the years England has been significantly damaged by immigration, when compared to the benefits that the immigration brought to the country, of course.

[William the Bastard]

We have a damnably vicious cycle going on in Britain atm. To put it bluntly, there are many in the working classes who live and thrive on benefits and simply can't be arsed to get jobs. Some of the old jobs that their fathers and grandfathers would have made carriers in don't exist anymore and the non permanent jobs available now are unpalatable in contrast to being given money for doing nowt.

So with all the gaps not being filled we have to fill them elsewhere. The Poles don't care what they do, get paid more than they would back home and do the job to a standard that the professional JSA book holders could never be arsed to do.

Having worked with Poles, Estonians, Liths, Safas etc etc in the construction industry all over the country I have to give it to them that they work hard and play hard. One thing that I do notice when in conversation with them is that they appreciate what this country has done for them but would never want such mass immigration to their own countries.

As far as I can see the English have become fat and lazy.The carrot has gone far enough and the only way to get English boys back in English jobs is to cut them off from their lotus fruits/scrap the completely ludicrous benefits system we have in this country and start afresh by making them fookng work for a change.

[Denny Crane!]

We have a damnably vicious cycle going on in Britain atm. To put it bluntly, there are many in the working classes who live and thrive on benefits and simply can't be arsed to get jobs. Some of the old jobs that their fathers and grandfathers would have made carriers in don't exist anymore and the non permanent jobs available now are unpalatable in contrast to being given money for doing nowt.

You have a fundamental flaw in your reasoning. There is a culture of benefits that has arisen and it has nothing to do with the decline of primary industries. There is a class of people in this country, call them disenfranchised youth or whatever, who simply don't want a job.

So with all the gaps not being filled we have to fill them elsewhere. The Poles don't care what they do, get paid more than they would back home and do the job to a standard that the professional JSA book holders could never be arsed to do.

Having worked with Poles, Estonians, Liths, Safas etc etc in the construction industry all over the country I have to give it to them that they work hard and play hard. One thing that I do notice when in conversation with them is that they appreciate what this country has done for them but would never want such mass immigration to their own countries.

As far as I can see the English have become fat and lazy.The carrot has gone far enough and the only way to get English boys back in English jobs is to cut them off from their lotus fruits/scrap the completely ludicrous benefits system we have in this country and start afresh by making them fookng work for a change.

Absolutely agree, I work in one of the highest unemployment areas in the entire UK and see the same faces day in day out. I watched them drop out of school, claim at 16 and they are now in their twenties and have never had a job. You see people who are hitting their 30's who haven't worked a day in their life. How are these people eating food and living a normal life?

When did it become OK to not work for a living, when did we suddenly decide we owed these people money be benefit of association and location.

[William the Bastard]

You have a fundamental flaw in your reasoning. There is a culture of benefits that has arisen and it has nothing to do with the decline of primary industries. There is a class of people in this country, call them disenfranchised youth or whatever, who simply don't want a job.

In a way you can't really blame them as they have been given something that they are legitimately allowed to take where as I pay my taxes so that others don't have to. Who's the fool there?

I agree with your statement but I also stick to my own. There is a good reason why Thatcher's death will be celebrated in most Northern towns someday.

When did it become OK to not work for a living, when did we suddenly decide we owed these people money be benefit of association and location.

What's just as bad is that you also have people at the other end of the spectrum abusing benefits too. My Auntie is the perfect example of this in that she and my Uncle both have decent jobs and a 5 bed house but she still claims her Child allowance to spend on a new pair of shoes every month (or week? don't know how often claims occur tbh).

It's all a case of archaic law not being updated but instead given a clip and a trim now and then. When it comes to immigration you have to admit it is rather farcical that an Island can't control who is in and who is out half the time.