A population the size of Manchester arrived here in the last 12 months.
What you need to know:
Nearly one-and-a-half million visas were issued in the year to March 2023 to people coming to the U.K. for work, study or family reasons, or through one of the Government’s settlement schemes. Nearly 200,000 of those were to Ukrainians.
For the first time asylum seekers were included in the immigration statistics, with 76,000 people applying in 2022, up from 53,000 in 2021;
The backlog of asylum cases has hit a new peak since comparable records began in 2010, with 172,758 people waiting for an initial decision at the end of March, up 57% on the previous 12 months;
The official figures show net migration was 606,000 across 2022. That was far higher than the 488,000 level for 2021 – even though that was upgraded by 91,000 in the latest official publication. The jump was fueled by arrivals from outside the EU: Ukraine, Afghanistan and Hong Kong.
Whilst the government talk about bringing the numbers down they have orchestrated the biggest rise in foreigners coming to this country in its entire history. Under no administration has there ever been a bigger number of immigrants arriving in the UK in a single year. Not even close. The Tories, whilst talking tough, have effectively opened UK borders to the world. A direct result of this can be seen on every high street.
To put the numbers into perspective that's an increase in the population the size of Manchester, every year.
Too many Tory ministers seem to be convinced mass immigration is necessary for economic growth. However, as Peter Lilley points out in the Telegraph: “Far from boosting growth, the highest level of immigration in our history has been accompanied by our slowest productivity growth on record”. Even the UN International Labour Office has, Lilley says, stated that immigration is no substitute for investing in the native workforce: “What may begin as a temporary shortage of trained native workers can be made more permanent by attempting a quick fix from migrant labour. Importing migrants into a sector whose employers are complaining of insufficient trained natives will exacerbate (rather than alleviate) its native shortage.”
NHS and immigration
Lilley notes that the NHS is propped up by foreign doctors and nurses, not because Brits don’t want to do the work, but because “we turn away tens of thousands of British applicants every year because training places are rationed. The NHS prefers to let poor countries do the training”.
Universities and immigration
Home Office minister Robert Jenrick told the Commons that some universities are “in the immigration business” rather than teaching and education. Jenrick was referring to the scam that left-wing Universities operate as a way of circumventing UK immigration laws. Some UK Universities advertise their courses abroad, making it clear that this is a way for people to come to Britain who would otherwise not be granted a visa. This is a known scam as Jenrick admits, yet the Government allow the practice to go on unchecked.
Afghanistan and immigration
If you believe the official narrative, thousands of those coming from Afghanistan were interpreters who helped allied forces during the conflict. The BBC claim that there were some 10,000 interpreters left behind when forces pulled out. That would mean 1 in 8 of all those wanting a UK visa were interpreters. The number is oft repeated, but appears to be propaganda as there are no official documents about this that have ever been released to the public.
Hong Kong and immigration
Some 120,000 middle-class ethnic Chinese have arrived in the UK in the last 12 months. They mostly bring with them a sizeable amount of money, and are purchasing houses in affluent areas of the south-east, putting further pressure on an already overcrowded housing market. The ex-Hong Kong residents are also highly educated and unlikely to fill any of the job market's manual or unskilled labour roles. Many weren't even born when Hong Kong was under British rule, raising questions about the process and exactly who should be eligible for UK citizenship from China.
Despite all this, the figures are set to rise AGAIN next year, with some estimates suggesting that it will top the TWO MILLION mark by May 2024.