Immigration from eastern Europe was massively underestimated

[dutchman]

Office for National Statistics admits it missed an estimated 350,000 in net migration over a decade because of flaws in a key survey



The number of eastern European migrants who came to Britain in the last decade was hundreds of thousands higher than previously thought, the Office for National Statistics has admitted.

In a disclosure that will fuel intense national concern about immigration, the agency said it had failed to count an estimated 350,000 migrants who arrived in this country between 2001 and 2011.

The ONS said the mistake occurred because it used “inadequate sampling” in a crucial survey at airports which is used to estimate net migration - the difference between the number of people arriving in Britain and those emigrating.

It said most of the migrants who were omitted from the International Passenger Survey (IPS) were from Poland and other former Communist states which joined the European Union in 2004, known as the “EU8” countries.

The revised totals showed net migration over the decade increased from just under 2.2 million to more than 2.5 million.

The ONS’s highest additional number of migrants was for 2006, when net migration is now thought to have been 67,000 higher than previously thought, reaching 265,000.

Original estimates were too low because the ONS concentrated its survey on main airports such as Heathrow but ignored migrants who were arriving on a growing number of budget airline routes into smaller, regional airports, a report said.

“There is evidence that shows the IPS missed a substantial amount of immigration of EU8 citizens that occurred between 2004 and 2008, prior to IPS improvements from 2009,” said the document.

“This is evident from comparisons of IPS data with a number of other data sources related to immigration.

“The EU8 migrants were missed due to IPS interviewing being concentrated at the time at principal airports, such as London Heathrow, London Gatwick and Manchester.

“During this time, many migrants from the EU8 countries were travelling on the increasing number of routes connecting their countries with the UK regional airports. Many of these routes were not covered, or not fully covered, by the IPS for migration purposes prior to 2009.”

The number of children migrating to Britain was also underestimated, it added.

More regional airports were included in the IPS from 2008 but the improvements were “too late to capture the main wave of increased migration” folloring EU expansion in 2004.

Labour, which was in power at the time, has admitted it was wrong not to impose restrictions on eastern Europeans’ ability to come to Britain from 2004.

[dutchman]

Labour: We’ll halt addiction to migrant labour



Britain risks becoming “dependent” on cheap migrant labour, Yvette Cooper will say today.

A Labour government would create laws to stop bosses using migrants to under-cut the wages of British workers, and the “serious exploitation” of migrants by businesses would be made a criminal offence, she will say.

Miss Cooper will also attack the Government for having a “worst of all worlds” stance, in which illegal immigration is getting worse while businesses are unable to find people with the skills they need.

Last month, James Brokenshire, the immigration minister, accused better-off families and big businesses of helping to support mass immigration by demanding cheap labour and services. Miss Cooper will say: “This kind of exploitation should be illegal. But the law isn’t working. We need change.

“The truth is that, for too long, exploitation in the labour market – a cause and effect of low-skilled immigration and illegal immigration – has gone unchecked.

“But we want to go further. We want clearer, stronger laws so businesses know where they stand and responsible employers know they won’t be undercut, but so that it is clear that employers who use pressure or force to exploit people and get round employment law are committing a crime.” Her words come as Labour announce a nationwide consultation with businesses, trade unions, communities and workers into the laws around exploitation and undercutting of wages.

Miss Cooper will also use her speech at the Local Government Association in Westminster to commit to proper exit checks as part of UK border policy as well as fingerprinting illegal immigrants caught at the border.

The shadow home secretary will also admit that the last Labour government “got things wrong on immigration”.

[rebbonk]

This is a nettle that nobody will grasp.

Immigration (from wherever!) ought be stopped until we have full employment of our own. However, this won't happen because unemployment drives wages down and the threat of unemployment (and the subsequent losses) are used as a threat to control the population.