Following on from the previous post...
Where was Mark Easton today?
He's not blogged about the latest Romanian/Bulgarian stats yet. He's not even tweeted about them yet. (Has anyone heard him analysing them?)
Where was Mark Easton today?
He's not blogged about the latest Romanian/Bulgarian stats yet. He's not even tweeted about them yet. (Has anyone heard him analysing them?)
Ah well, I did see him on BBC One's News at Six. And he didn't mention the figures on Romanians and Bulgarians there either.
Why?
Could it be because of pro-immigration bias on his part? Or merely because of an unwillingness to 'fess up in public? Or something else entirely?
Well, here's my transcription of what Mark Easton actually did tell the nation on tonight's News at Six:
Well, when it comes to that target I think the government, frankly, has been a victim of its own success.
The big increase is in people coming here to work, up 73% in just three years. And why? Because the economy's doing well. There are jobs. Britain is attractive.
Another big driver of net migration is foreign students. Interesting. The numbers coming to study at UK universities. colleges and schools remain pretty flat, and that's despite the global expansion in the sector that has led some people to say. 'Actually, we could be missing out here on foreign income'.
Refugees. Much debate as Europe deals with the exodus from Syria of course. Well, more people are seeking asylum in the UK but refugees, they still make up just onl...just 5% of non-British immigration. So a very small part.
The real pull factor is our economy.
And it's not just that our economic success is encouraging migrants. Migrants are actually helping boost our economy. Of the new jobs that are fuelling growth two thirds are filled by foreigners.
And the Chancellor didn't need to cut tax credits and the police yesterday because of an official forecast saying that net migration would boost economic growth more than expected in the next few years.
So quite simply, as things stand, the better the economy does the harder it's going to be for the government to hit its net migration target.
I took several messages from that on the subject of immigration - all of them pro-immigration:
(1) That immigration (of the mass variety) is doing wonders for our economy (and the government's coffers).
(2) That foreign students are good for the economy too.
(3) That the 'refugee' crisis is nothing to worry about here in the UK.
All points in one direction.
How is that 'impartial'?
How is that 'impartial'?
