POPULATION CURBS A 'BLUFF'
By Alison Little
Daily Express
Monday January 5,2009
CLAIMS by the Government to be cracking down on immigration are a gigantic bluff and will do nothing to stop Britains population growing to levels the country cannot cope with, senior MPs warned yesterday.
The population is firmly on course to grow to 70 million from todays 61 million by 2028, according to research by Migrationwatch UK for the Balanced Migration Group.
Some 70 per cent of the growth, the equivalent of seven cities the size of Birmingham, will be due to immigration.
The cross-party group, demanding stronger migration control, stepped up its calls for immediate action to defuse the ticking timebomb.
It published research showing how the Governments new points-based system aimed at controlling non-EU immigration would have virtually no impact.
The warning came from Labour former minister Frank Field and Tory ex-minister Nicholas Soames, co-chairmen of the group on balanced migration, which argues that overall numbers coming into Britain should equal the number of those leaving.
In a joint statement they said: As a nation, we cannot afford to let our population grow at the extraordinary pace now officially forecast.
The pressures on our public services and communities would be too great to bear. This timebomb must be defused and that requires radical action, now.
Government claims that they are taking effective action are no more than a gigantic bluff.
The research claimed that even if net migration was cut by 180,000 from the most recent figure of nearly 240,000 to 60,000 a year, the countrys population would grow by nearly 10million in coming years.
The group said the points-based system would have cut immigration by just 12,000 last year if it had been in place.
A UK Borders Agency spokesman said: The Immigration Minister has made it clear that the points-based system will allow the Government to manage immigration which in turn will help contribute to future population projections and control.
