Immigration fuels overcrowding crisis at secondary schools, report warns

Secondary schools will struggle to accommodate tens of thousands of pupils as high immigration levels have left them facing chronic overcrowding, a leaked government document warns.

The combination of a steady increase in the number of births and a threefold increase in net long-term migration since the mid-1990s means the problem could reach crisis point within two years, the report suggests.

The 'restricted' paper prepared by the Department for Education says ministers have "faced fears of an impending shortage for some years" and cites evidence from the Home Office that the "impact of immigration has been substantial".

It is said to be "an important contributory factor, through both the arrival of migrant children and the high birth rates of some migrant groups".
Daily Telegraph, 7.9.13

How many lesbians have you disciplined? Pointless red tape condemned in new report into how public bodies have become obsessed by equality

Public bodies have become engulfed with pointless red-tape as they strive to prove they do not discriminate, a report has warned today.

A review into the Public Sector Equality Duty 'had difficulties finding' examples to prove the legislation was working, despite a general belief it was.

The chairman of the review has now warned 'unnecessary use' of red tape could divert resources from frontline services.

One example of the red-tape found by the review was an ambulance service which kept a record of how many lesbians had been disciplined.
Daily Mail, 6.9.13

Public strongly oppose votes for foreign citizens

Last week a report by Migrationwatch revealed that about one million Commonwealth citizens who are not British citizens nevertheless have the right to vote in our General Elections.

Now an opinion poll by YouGov has found that the present situation is opposed by the public by 2 to 1. 60% do not think that these people should be able to vote in General Elections. Only 30% are in favour; 9% don't know.

Commenting, Sir Andrew Green, Chairman of Migrationwatch UK said "Public opinion is rightly very strong on this. The situation is both very unfair and undermines the value of citizenship. The government's response so far has been pathetic. When Parliament has considered it in the past MPs had no idea of the scale that this issue had reached. Now that the scale has become known, this hang over from the Empire must be tackled and soon".
MWUK, 5.9.13

Mass immigration has made Britain a less competitive economy

By Jeremy Warner

On the whole, business leaders tend to support an open door immigration policy, which helps address skills shortages in key industries. But, more particularly, it also puts downward pressure on wage costs. The effect is similar to having permanently high levels of unemployment, since it creates an inexhaustible supply of cheap labour.

This may or may not be good for corporate profits but it is certainly not good either for productivity or for living standards among low and middle income earners. By making labour cheap, it removes a powerful incentive to productivity gain.
Daily Telegraph, 3.9.13

Pupils packed in like sardines: Baby boom and migrant influx fuel school places crisis

Thousands of pupils are being squeezed into extra classes at primary schools struggling under a huge influx of children.

Amid a raft of emergency measures, a third of councils are being forced to lay on the 'bulge' reception classes for the term starting this week. The crisis has been caused by a baby boom, rising immigration and families being priced out of the private sector.

Many pupils will now be taught in temporary classrooms, with some schools renting extra space in empty offices and children's centres.

The National Audit Office warned in April that 240,000 extra primary places would be needed by September 2014.
Daily Mail, 3.9.13

Now for Labour's lies about immigration

By Jeff Randall

Labour MP Jon Cruddas admits that "historians will look back on the past few decades and identify immigration as perhaps the major change to our country." Not everyone thinks it is a change for the better. According to a weekend poll of 20,000 people, 60 per cent believe immigration has brought more disadvantages than advantages. Under Blair and Brown, Labour's approach to immigration was voodoo economics masquerading as respectable politics. Its 2005 manifesto, all 112 pages, was a masterpiece of obfuscation, devoting just 16 lines to "Migration: the facts".

Instead of setting out the possible consequences of a policy that would result in 1.5 million net (legal) immigrants in seven years, 2004-2010, it simply stated: "Skilled migrants are contributing 10-15 per cent of our economy's growth". No mention of housing shortages, pressures on schools or anything else remotely negative.
Daily Telegraph, 2.9.13

Number of foreign criminals using 'human rights' law to stay in Britain almost doubles

The number of foreign criminals who have avoided deportation because it would 'breach their human rights' has almost doubled in a year, it has today been revealed.

Almost 300 offenders used Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights to argue their right to stay in the country last year.
Daily Mail, 2.9.13

Public opinion and the politics of immigration

The debate over immigration encapsulates all the stuff of politics: who we are as a country, how we see our economic prospects, our sense of entitlement and obligation, the purpose of public services and the broader welfare state. And while the subject is no longer taboo -– if it ever was –- it regularly proves to be explosive. Many feel that over the last fifteen years immigration has been allowed to happen on a scale we cannot cope with, and without public consent being sought or given.

Whatever people's view of immigration itself, few think any recent government has had any real grasp of it, or that any of the parties do today. Most do not feel there is any strategy for dealing with the number of migrants, for their successful integration into British society, or for managing the effects on housing, infrastructure, jobs, the NHS, schools, or the benefits system.

In a poll of more than 20,000 people, I found that six in ten thought immigration had produced more disadvantages than advantages for the country as a whole; only 17% thought the pros outweighed the cons.
Lord Ashcroft Polls, 1.9.13

Census 2011: Quarter of native Polish speakers lack good command of English

Up to a third of people from among Britain's biggest migrant communities cannot speak English well, official figures show, prompting concerns about the strain they are placing on the NHS and schools.

Over a quarter of those who speak Polish as their main language, the largest group other than native English speakers, said their English was either not good or non-existent.

The figure was similar for people whose principal tongue was Urdu or Gujarati, while nearly a third of native Punjabi and Bengali speakers did not have a good command of English, the 2011 census of England and Wales found.
Daily Telegraph, 31.8.13

Romanian children born in Britain at record high

The number of British children born to Romanian parents has reached a record high as the country becomes one of the top ten places of origin for foreign-born parents for the first time.

Mothers from Romania moved into the top ten at ninth position, replacing China, with 4,406 live births.

And Romanian-born fathers also entered to top ten in ninth position, with 3,867, supplanting Ghana.

The figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that the proportion of babies born in Britain to foreign-born mothers rose slightly overall to 25.9 per cent.

The top nationality for foreign-born mothers was Poland with 21,156, followed by Pakistan with 19,091.

In all there were 189,079 births to non-UK born mothers last year, up from 184,529 in 2011.
Daily Telegraph, 29.8.13

Number of foreign nationals on benefits soars to 400,000

The number of foreign nationals claiming benefits such as Jobseeker's Allowance has jumped by 40 per cent in just four years to more than 400,000, new government figures have disclosed.

New figures showed there were 407,000 non-UK nationals receiving the hand-outs last year, a rise of more than 118,000 since 2008, with the total bill running to hundreds of millions of pounds a year.

The new benefit claimant figures also showed there were 102,000 claimants from Africa last year and 132,000 from Asia and the Middle East.

European claimants - including eastern European nationals - made up the largest group, at nearly 139,000.
Daily Telegraph, 29.8.13

Increase in net UK migration causes headache for Tories

Net migration into Britain has seen a slight rise as fewer British and EU citizens emigrated from the country, new figures are showing.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that approximately 176,000 migrants entered the UK in the year to December 2012, up from 153,000 in the year to September 2012.

The increase was driven by a drop in the number of migrants leaving Britain, which fell from 351,000 to 321,000, while the number of immigrants arriving in the country also decreased from 566,000 to 497,000.
The Independent, 29.8.13

Foreign citizens votes could critically affect outcome of 2015 election and EU referendum

Commonwealth Citizens who have not yet qualified for British Citizenship, or have not even applied, should no longer be entitled to vote in British general elections, nor in the forthcoming referendum on UK membership of the EU. That is the conclusion of a report issued today by Migration Watch UK.

The report reveals, for the first time, that there are over a million people of voting age living in England and Wales who hold only Commonwealth passports. These Commonwealth citizens currently have the right to vote in all British elections but, except for a few Caribbean states, British citizens do not have reciprocal rights in Commonwealth countries. An address in the constituency is required to get on the electoral roll but no period of residence is laid down and there are no checks on immigration status.
MWUK, 28.8.13

Vital migrant I.D. checks scrapped: Stowaways no longer fingerprinted at Calais which means they can keep trying to sneak back in to claim asylum

The UK has abandoned identity checks on illegal immigrants trying to sneak into the country from Calais.

In a huge security downgrade, Border Force officials no longer photograph or fingerprint immigrants found stowing away in lorries at the Channel ferry port.

Instead, they are handed to French police, who free them, enabling them to try again and again until they succeed.

The scrapping of fingerprinting means that if the migrants reach Britain and apply for asylum under a false identity, claiming to be refugees, immigration officers have no way of identifying them as having previously tried to enter Britain illegally. As a result, they cannot expose their new identity as fake.

Economic migrants, criminals and terrorists can now slip much more easily through the net. This contrasts with the increasingly strict checks on holiday-makers, who have to hand over their passport which contains biometric information to confirm their identities.
Daily Mail, 24.8.13

Outcry as Labour's Diane Abbott demands MORE migrants should come to UK

Labour is facing fresh embarrassment over border control today after frontbencher Diane Abbott attacked Ed Miliband for failing to argue for MORE immigration.

The shadow Health Minister claimed her leader was shy of publicly standing up to Tory calls for tighter restrictions on the number of newcomers arriving in Britain.

She also claimed Mr Miliband spent too much time worrying about opinion polls which showed that promises to cut immigration were popular with voters.
Daily Express, 22.8.13

European Union ruling aided fake marriages

Immigration officials are probing a huge rise in sham marriages after a ruling by EU human rights judges.

Some areas have reported the bogus weddings between EU citizens and migrants seeking to stay in Britain have soared by up to six-fold over the past three years.

Across England and Wales, the number of sham marriages more than doubled from 934 in 2010 to 1,891 in 2012.
Daily Express, 20.8.13

'Don't give our jobs to migrants when 1m young are on the dole'

Britons believe the Government should ban immigrants from taking jobs while a million UK youngsters are unemployed, reveals a poll.

Three-quarters of those questioned said that it was wrong for the country to recruit from overseas while so many young people are already struggling to earn a living.

Two-thirds think firms should give UK citizens priority over other candidates from elsewhere in Europe – even if this means Britain leaving the European Union.
Daily Express, 19.8.13

The NHS needs more British doctors, senior surgeon warns

Patients are being put at risk as 40 per cent of doctors taken on by the NHS each year are foreign, a senior surgeon has warned.

Calling for more British doctors to be employed Professor J Meirion Thomas pointed out that professionals drafted in from abroad often have language difficulties, are not as well trained, and know little of our culture.
Daily Telegraph, 15.8.13

100 Romanians and Bulgarians take a job in Britain every day, official figures show

About 100 Romanians and Bulgarians a day are getting jobs in Britain, according to official figures.

The number of people from the two EU countries has soared by more than a third over the past year, even though they are not yet allowed to work freely in this country.

The number here has reached a record high of 141,000, according to the Office for National Statistics – over-shadowing the total number of Australians and New Zealanders for the first time since records began.

There were just 2,000 Romanians and Bulgarians working in Britain in 1997, against 78,000 from Australia and New Zealand.
Daily Mail, 15.8.13

Labour is guilty of breathtaking hypocrisy over foreign workers

By Philip Johnston

Mr Bryant, Labour's immigration spokesman, walked into a fusillade of criticism for the speech he made at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) think tank yesterday, even before he delivered it. Yet his central claim – that eastern European nationals are undercutting the pay of British workers – was hardly revelatory. Who did not know this? Well, presumably Labour didn't. Despite the fact that 80 per cent of newly created jobs were going to foreign workers, for most of their 13 years in office Labour ministers insisted that immigrants were simply filling vacancies the British did not want.
Daily Telegraph, 13.8.13

BBC is biased toward the Left, study finds

The BBC is twice as likely to cover Left-wing policy proposals than those that are Right-wing, a study has found.

The corporation has long been accused of left-wing bias, but now researchers claim to have found statistical evidence that challenges the broadcaster's claim to fairness.

The BBC are more likely to cover Left-wing think tank reports and to hail them as "independent" while giving Right-wing research a "health warning" by pointing out its ideological position, the Centre for Policy Studies have found.
Daily Telegraph, 12.8.13