Dear fellow members
of UKIP (and others concerned about the UK's relationship with the
EU),
In the last few weeks the debate
on immigration has become increasingly heated and prominent. The government has
admitted that its 2010 goal – of reducing net immigration to the low tens of
thousands – will not be met. The explanation, in terms of numbers, is that
immigration from the rest of the European Union has been higher than expected.
The underlying reason is that, while the UK
remains in the EU, it does not have full control over its borders. To restore
control over our borders we must leave the EU.
A short note is attached on
employment trends during and since the Great Recession. In our own country the
number of UK-born people with a job has only quite recently exceeded its level
at the end of 2007. In
early 2014 there were fewer UK-born people with a job than seven years earlier.
(Youth unemployment was and remains particularly high.) By contrast, the number
of foreign-born people with a job was about a million higher (roughly 30%) in
early 2014 than in late 2007. The recital of figures doesn’t
prove that the influx of foreign workers has made life harder for the long-term
British. I admit it doesn’t prove the point. But it suggests a high probability
that many of the long-term British have been made worse-off because people from
other countries have taken their jobs or been willing to work for less.
Should the British feel angry
about the matter? Or should UK public policy be geared to the good not of
British people (who after all vote in governments), but of everyone in the
world, the citizens of every nation, regardless of whether they can speak
English….?
Finally, may I mention that I
have revamped my www.timcongdon4ukip.com website? These e-mails will be
part of the material the website contains. My latest research – including the
annual reports on ‘How much does the EU cost Britain?’ – will be available to
download. I have also added a large number of newspaper and magazine articles,
and academic papers, some going back to the 1980s.
With best
wishes,
Tim Congdon.
