Thread: Immigration is too high, say four in five Britons

Immigration is too high, say four in five Britons

By Steve Doughty, Social Affairs Correspondent
Last updated at 9:40 AM on 14th January 2011
Comments 105

- Four out of five people want to see cuts in the level of immigration, a large-scale survey carried out for the Government has revealed.
- More than half the population want to see numbers coming from abroad to live in Britain reduced by ‘a lot’, it found.
- The poll, carried out for the Communities Department, showed that public demand for reducing immigration is overwhelming and growing.


Queue: Asylum seekers in Calais, France, queue for food handouts distributed by local charity workers as they wait to head across the Channel to Britain

It amounts to a warning from Whitehall to David Cameron and Home Secretary Theresa May that concerns over immigration – which played a central role in last year’s general election – have not gone away and are likely to lead to voter frustration if the Coalition fails to keep its promises.

Ministers have pledged to bring net migration – the number of people added to the population by migration each year – down to 1990s levels of under 100,000. In Labour’s last year in power, net migration was 215,000.

The Communities Department Citizenship Survey – a research project launched while Tony Blair was prime minister – attempts to measure ‘community cohesion’.



Net migration increased dramatically after Labour came to power in 1997
Its findings on immigration are notable because the survey was designed to ensure that ethnic minorities and Muslims were ‘robustly represented’ among those consulted.

Some 10,000 people were questioned, but pollsters then gauged opinions from a further 5,000 ethnic minority members and 1,200 Muslims before reaching their conclusions.

The survey found that 78 per cent of the population want to see immigration cut back. A quarter (24 per cent) would like to see immigration reduced a little, while 54 per cent said they wanted it cut ‘a lot’. Fewer than one in five – 19 per cent – said levels should stay the same. Only three people in 100 thought there should be an increase.

The pollsters found no sign that people felt their local areas were becoming more uneasy and divided. They said 85 per cent thought their neighbourhood was ‘cohesive’ and a place where people from different backgrounds got on well together.

However, 22 per cent thought they would get worse treatment from public services because of their race. This proportion is double the size of the ethnic minority population, which is around 10 per cent of the population.


Business Secretary Vince Cable is among the ministers resisting Teresa May's attempt to cut numbers of visas for workers coming to Britain from outside the European Union

Sir Andrew Green, of the Migrationwatch think-tank, said: ‘These figures are a very clear indication that, despite our economic troubles, immigration remains high among public concerns. The Coalition Government, and especially its Liberal Democrat members, would do well to remember that.’

Some ministers, notably Business Secretary Vince Cable, have been resisting Mrs May’s attempt to cut numbers of visas for workers coming to Britain from outside the European Union. Mr Cable and some other ministers believe industry needs to recruit highly skilled labour from abroad.

But critics who fear the Coalition may be too cautious say that Britain is importing workers while six million people remain idle on benefits.

They also point to tensions caused by competition between immigrants and locals for housing and state services in places such as East London and the growing strain on housing, transport, water and energy supplies because of fast-increasing population levels.

In April, the Government will cap numbers of visas for less skilled workers from outside Europe to 21,700 for 2012, a reduction of a fifth. A consultation on how to cut numbers of student visas is under way.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... itons.html

All the Brits are saying is, Brits first. When resources shrink, there's no enough for everyone.

omg
this look like brook ave IN the Bronx nyc it bad