As you flick through TV, browse newspaper headlines or talk with colleagues over a beer after work, you will undoubtedly have come across a negative discussion about immigration. In the run up to the general election, all major parties are doing their best to turn this issue into a political hot potato, using immigration to attract voters who might be swayed by the damaging rhetoric of Ukip (blaming everything from traffic on the M4 to problems with the NHS, unemployment and housing on migrants). The media is deeply complicit in this, fuelling tensions across Britain and diverting attention away from far more damaging policies that have resulted in a squeeze of the working classes, the disabled, OAP’s and the public sector. In fact, unless you have a few million quid knocking round in an offshore account in Jersey, you are probably feeling the pinch too.
Let us be clear, migration did not cause the financial crash of 2008, and it certainly did not create the crippling austerity measures trotted out by the Coalition. The cuts put forward by George Osborne and co. must be seen as an ideological attack, designed to transfer as much money from the public purse to private pockets as possible. This has caused massive social unrest. The tension is real, it's palpable, and it is ultimately misguided; expertly misdirected by this Government.
A recent report found that, since 2000, migrants from EU have contributed £25billion to the economy, they pay 34% more taxes than they receive in benefits, and are 45% less likely to actually receive state benefits or tax credits. Cries of ‘benefit tourism’ are therefore massively misguided, while corporate media has grossly skewed reportage of the issue. When a recent UCL report came out highlighting the financial benefits of immigration, the Mail and the Telegraph decided to run with a line from the study about non-EU migrants costing the UK £120bn between 1995-2011. However, this should be put into context with the fact that UK nationals cost the country £591bn in the same time period. It is this distortion of facts that has become so damaging, as it has a negative effect on how readers comprehend this complex issue. And whilst the Daily Mail take great enjoyment from baiting its readers to detest migrant workers, our healthcare system is propped up by the very same immigrants to our shores; 11% of all staff and 26% of doctors are non-British.
Next time you experience someone verging on this sort of angry attack on immigrants you should advise them to turn their anger towards far more pressing issues. The big culprit is tax avoidance loopholes, which enable the world’s richest companies to minimize their tax bill in the UK by siphoning off profits to tax havens in Luxembourg or Ireland. It is estimated that only £1 in £15 was collected last year, resulting in a tax gap of £34billion. Google paid just £6 million in Corporation Tax on UK profits of £2.6 billion last year. If they’d paid the full 23% that bill would have been more like £600 million. Starbucks, meanwhile, has paid zero tax for the past 3 years. Companies like Facebook, Amazon and Apple are all equally complicit, but the worrying thing is that this is completely legal. The power wielded by corporations’ means that they have been able to totally re-write laws to support profiteering. When someone tells you there is not enough money to give our nurses a 1% pay rise, point them in the direction of this infographic.
There is plenty enough money, the problem is that it is all sitting in the bank accounts of the World’s richest companies. They don’t abide by the same social contract as you and I, and they give nothing back to our communities. Transnational corporations not paying their way… these are the real immigrants we should all be concerned with.
If you are still convinced that immigration is the the number 1 issue facing UK today then I strongly advise you to turn your attention to the raft of super rich property developers taking advantage of the housing crisis and increasing rent beyond the means of those families on social housing. What is worse is that the government often subsidises private landlords that charge rip-off rates. There are currently over 1.8 million families on council waiting lists, and that list will continue to grow until tougher regulation is passed to limit this practice. So when Nigel Farage, David Cameron or Boris Johnson try to convince us all that immigration is to blame for the housing crisis, they may be half right. Unfortunately that half truth is a shadowy one; one that protects their super-rich, aristocratic friends-in-high-places.
Whilst I do feel that British immigration policy could be improved by a more thorough vetting process and by addressing how migrants are assimilated into British society (to avoid the linguistic and cultural barriers that do often exist in communities with large numbers of foreign nationals), we shouldn't be distracted from the causes of problems in Britain today. We need to end the exploitative policies of companies seeking cheap labour, we need tougher regulations on the housing market and we need to redirect the money which is being vacuumed up by the financial elite. This will help to relieve the social tensions that have resulted in a rise of xenophobic/far-right views. There is plenty enough money to fix the healthcare system, the public sector, the housing crisis, the rising poverty... the trouble is our current political system is set up to support the wealthy at the expense of the many.
There is plenty enough money, the problem is that it is all sitting in the bank accounts of the World’s richest companies. They don’t abide by the same social contract as you and I, and they give nothing back to our communities. Transnational corporations not paying their way… these are the real immigrants we should all be concerned with.
If you are still convinced that immigration is the the number 1 issue facing UK today then I strongly advise you to turn your attention to the raft of super rich property developers taking advantage of the housing crisis and increasing rent beyond the means of those families on social housing. What is worse is that the government often subsidises private landlords that charge rip-off rates. There are currently over 1.8 million families on council waiting lists, and that list will continue to grow until tougher regulation is passed to limit this practice. So when Nigel Farage, David Cameron or Boris Johnson try to convince us all that immigration is to blame for the housing crisis, they may be half right. Unfortunately that half truth is a shadowy one; one that protects their super-rich, aristocratic friends-in-high-places.
Whilst I do feel that British immigration policy could be improved by a more thorough vetting process and by addressing how migrants are assimilated into British society (to avoid the linguistic and cultural barriers that do often exist in communities with large numbers of foreign nationals), we shouldn't be distracted from the causes of problems in Britain today. We need to end the exploitative policies of companies seeking cheap labour, we need tougher regulations on the housing market and we need to redirect the money which is being vacuumed up by the financial elite. This will help to relieve the social tensions that have resulted in a rise of xenophobic/far-right views. There is plenty enough money to fix the healthcare system, the public sector, the housing crisis, the rising poverty... the trouble is our current political system is set up to support the wealthy at the expense of the many.
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