MigrationNet migration to U.K. increases to 333,000

Published 26 May 2016

The British government has release new migration figures which show that net migration into Britain rose to 333,000 last year - 20,000 more than in 2014. About 308,000 of these immigrated to Britain for work, an increase of 30,000 from 2014. Just under 60 percent had a specific job waiting for them, but 42 percent arrived looking for work, which, the government notes, is a statistically significant increase from 104,000 the previous year. The information released by the Office for National Statistics is politically significant now, as Britain is a month away from a referendum on whether to remain in or leave the EU.

 

The British government has release new migration figures which show that net migration into Britain rose to 333,000 last year - 20,000 more than in 2014.

About 308,000 of these immigrated to Britain for work, an increase of 30,000 from 2014.

Newsweek reports that just under 60 percent had a specific job waiting for them, but 42 percent arrived looking for work, which, the government notes, is a statistically significant increase from 104,000 the previous year.

The figures also show that the increase in net migration came from EU nationals, at the same time that migration from other countries fell. The government said, however, that the figures were too small to be significant.

Analysts note that the information released by the Office for National Statistics is politically significant now, as Britain is a month away from a referendum on whether to remain in or leave the EU.

Boris Johnson, the former Conservative mayor of London who leads the “Leave” campaign, called the EU a “job transfer machine,” claiming EU migrants are taking jobs which otherwise would have gone to British workers.

Johnson said the only way to bring net migration down was to leave the EU.

“What is happening at the moment is being done completely without the consent of the British people,” he said.

“They voted (at the last election) to bring net migration down and we have just heard it is going up every year. For me this is about democracy. The only was to achieve that (bring migration down) is to take back control and vote leave.”

Lord Blunkett, a Labor peer and a leading “Remain” campaigner, said that EU co-operation is the only “rational” way of managing migration.

The ONS stressed that the small increase in net migration was not statistically significant, but the office also released figures showing that in 2014, 13 percent, or 8.3 million, of the U.K. resident population were born outside the United Kingdom. This has is an increase from 9 percent, or 5.3 million, in 2004.

The ONS notes that the numbers also show a big rise in short term migration – people coming to live in the United Kingdom for less than a year.

In the year to June 2014 there were 165,000 short-term immigrants, compared with 122,000 in the year to June 2013.

The Labor Force Survey, which tracks employment figures, show the estimated employment level of EU nationals (excluding British) living in the United Kingdom was 2.1 million in January to March 2016 — 224,000 higher than the same quarter last year.

Stephen Woolfe, an MEP from the pro-exit UKIP, said the figures were “staggering.”

Britain is borderless as a member of the EU,” he said. “The sheer scale of immigration is putting our public services under severe strain and causing division and disharmony in our communities.

“We need a migration policy fit for twenty-first Century Britain - which satisfies the needs of our economy and our society. Unless we vote to Leave the EU we will continue to have our hands tied and have no control over who comes and who goes at our ports.”

The number of employed British nationals increased by 185,000 to 28.2 million, while the number of employed non-EU nationals increased by 5,000, to 1.2 million.

The Labor Force Survey shows that more than half of the growth in U.K. employment over the last year was accounted for by foreign nationals.