Naked truth but nobody cares.

Hundreds of thousands of immigrants are a drain on Britain and its economy, not a benefit, says a Left-leaning think tank.

Migrants from many developing nations fail to pay their way, while those from wealthy countries, such as the United States and Australia, provide a boost for the economy.

The report, published today by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), sets out to reveal which nationalities are "a debit on Britain's balance sheet".

It found that fewer than half of Britain's 650,000 Somalis, Bangladeshis, Turks and Pakistanis, have jobs and the four communities have the highest levels of benefit dependency.

Britain's fastest-growing migrant group, the Poles, score above-average for employment, but have the lowest hourly pay and make a below-average tax contribution.

Channel 4 commissioned the report for a Dispatches documentary, Immigrants: the Inconvenient Truth, to be shown tomorrow night.

The IPPR, which has close links to Labour, insisted that its report "is not an attempt to cast immigrant communities in a bad or good light". However, its findings will be seized on by those campaigning for tighter immigration controls.

New government statistics predict a two million rise in population over the next decade due to immigration, more than previous projections.

Liam Byrne, the immigration minister, said last week that the forecast "underlines the need for swift and sweeping changes to the immigration system".

This newspaper revealed last week that one in five crimes in London is now committed by foreign nationals, with Poles, Jamaicans, Irish and Somalis at the top of the list.
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