UK Immigration: Net Migration Drops and Other Immigration News from the Last Week

The big news last week in UK immigration was that the government officially laid out it’s new immigration policy in the Queen’s Speech. The cornerstone of their new policy is to cut net inward migration to Britain to the ‘tens of thousands’

New statistics released this past week show that net migration is already there without any cuts or quoutas being implemented.

Migration to the UK is down substantially from what it was in the last few years. There are many factors that have caused this, some being, bad economy, unwelcomeness, crackdown on students and much more.

Either way, even if the new Coalition Government implements it’s new quouta system, it’s doubtful to have an affect on many poeple as not that many people are coming to the UK anymore.

From Sarah Mullin at the Telegraph:

New statistics show a continued decline in net immigration to the UK, which raises a question: why does the new government need to introduce a cap on immigrant numbers?

David Cameron has said repeatedly that he wants annual net immigration down to “tens of thousands, rather than hundreds of thousands“. But the latest figures suggest that it was down to 142,000 in the year to September 2009 – an 11% decrease on the previous 12 months – and well down on the numbers in mid-2000s when it was persistently above 200,000. The economic crisis, natural cycles of migration flow and tougher policies of the last government have already turned the tide – and at this rate we will see net immigration fall below 100,000 without the introduction of the much-trumpeted cap.

But, of course, a drop on this scale will not satisfy those who want to see a drastic reduction in immigration to the UK. Migration Watch and its parliamentary wing, the cross-party balanced migration group, have demanded that immigration should be reduced to the levels of the mid-1990s, which would mean a net level of around 40,000.

David Cameron and his immigration minister, Damian Green, have hinted, without being explicit, that this is their target, too. But while the 15% fall in applications for employment visas with the possibility of settlement (tiers one and two of the points-based system) helps to bring a drop below 100,000 closer, the lower figure is going to be very tough to achieve.

Indeed, a recent Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) report showed that net immigration levels of 40,000 could only be brought about if there were major restrictions on the entry of highly skilled workers, foreign students and the family members of UK citizens and residents. Such restrictions could harm the economy, would be opposed by business interests and universities, and run into legal difficulties

Very interesting indeed. Stay tuned to Anglotopia for the latest UK Immigration news.