John Reid's new immigration proposals
It's hard to disagree with Phillipe Legrain's view of John Reid's latest popularity gimmick, so you might as well read him not me. The only good thing about it is what Phillipe says, it will probably blow back in his face. But this bit rather surprised me:Contrary to the scare stories, this open door has proved to be a revolving door. Over 600,000 East Europeans may have come work in Britain since May 2004, but most have already gone home again: ONS figures show that in 2004 only 48,000 stayed longer than 12 months, with net migration reaching 74,000 in 2005. That is a paltry 0.12% of the British population.
I thought there were 600,000 East Europeans who had come here and stayed. That was certainly the impression given in news reports and by politicians. Was I completely wrong?
posted by Matthew @ 10/25/2006 07:26:00 AM
Comments: 0
