Britains Immigration-emigration Debate
Research this week from the House of Commons Library suggests England’s population will have shot up by 17 million people by 2056, taking the total for England alone to 67.9 million. The cause: more births, people living longer, and large immigration flows.
Indeed, the latter point appears to be gaining increasing significance, according to the National Statistician, Karen Dunnell. Her research, reports the Daily Mail newspaper, reveals that from 1992-96 (when the Conservative Party was in government) ‘natural change’ as a result of people living longer or having more children was the biggest contributor to UK population growth. This accounted for an additional 582,604 people, compared to 143,112 from net migration and other factors.
However, under the current labor government, points out the Mail, net migration has taken over as the primary factor behind population growth. From 1997-2001, migrants and other factors added 532,652 people to the total, whereas 416,471 came from natural change. And from 2002 to 2006 net migration climbed to 932,999 people, almost double the 528,429 increase that stemmed from natural change.
On the flip side, the most recent figures from the UK Office for National Statistics show that 207,000 British citizens emigrated in 2006, the highest number since current records began in 1991. And from 1997-2007, a total of more than 1.5 million Brits moved abroad. The figure was jumped on by Conservative immigration spokesman Damian Green, who claimed the exodus was a reflection of a decade of life under labor.
Certainly there is a connection in many people’s minds between the two flows (particularly if you browse through the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph reader message boards). Immigration is making this densely populated little island even more overcrowded, putting more pressure on an already stretched housing stock, and on its health, education and transport systems. As a result, disgruntled Britons are fleeing in their droves in search of a better quality of life elsewhere.
This seems an illogical argument to me. You’re fed up with people moving into your country, so you’re going to move to someone else’s instead! And how do you suppose the local population in Spain or Australia or Canada feels about it? Would you blame them if they reacted with hostility to your incursion?
I too jumped ship and left England five years ago, so I can understand the motivations involved in migrating somewhere in search of a better life, wherever that may be. And I can only say I hope any legal immigrant to Britain is welcomed as warmly as I have been by the people here in Spain. After all, what’s sauce for the goose.
Paul Allen is a freelance journalist and writer who has lived in northern Spain since 2003. He is the author of “Should I Stay Or Should I Go? The Truth About Moving Abroad And Whether It’s Right For You,” a comprehensive e-book guide for people seeking advice on whether or not to move abroad. For more details about the book, and to get lots of free information and advice on moving and living overseas, visit his website at http://www.expatliving101.com
