PM – Fear and loathing of the immigrant

If there is one phrase word to describe David Cameron’s immigration speech on Monday it is ‘fear of the other’. He set out to show the ‘concerned’ public that he wanted to get ‘tough on immigration’, and that it is time to have a ‘sensible debate’ about immigration and some of the ‘coercive’ effects it has on public services and the changing demographic make-up of the UK.

The speech left you with the impression that Britain was being overrun by immigrants, Britain is Rome and the Barbarians are at the gate, we must do something or face annihilation. The reality is, it is not the fear of the country being ‘annihilated’, but the fear of the Conservative party being ‘annihilated’ by UKIP that drove Mr Cameron’s speech.

The speech contained many dangerous illusions about immigration that seems all too prevalent in the media. He claimed that the last government allowed for ‘uncontrolled’ immigration levels and made a connection between this and the benefit system. The speech alleged that our benefit system was ‘soft-touch’ and sent out the wrong message, stating that,

making entitlement to our key public services something migrants earn-not an automatic right”.

The NHS is unable to cope according to the speech and British tax-payers should not have to subsidise foreigners who do not ‘earn’ their right to be here. According to the PM, 40% of immigrants claim benefits. He also claimed that the ‘culture of benefits’ needs to change and that the attitude of ‘something for nothing’ is going to change. He asserted that the new conditions on unemployment benefit will require that you have to be actively seeking work and that immigrants are no longer automatically entitled to a house upon arrival.

However, the trouble with this speech is that it is a gross distortion of the reality on the ground. Equating the benefit system with immigrant’s flies in the face of reality. According to Sarah Mulley of the Institute of Public Policy, EU migrants are only half as likely to claim benefits compared to the general British population. If you break it down- official statics on European migrants show that they make-up 13% of the British work-force and only 7% claim out of work benefits. This number is reduced for non-EU migrants with only 5% claiming benefits. These statistics bear no relevance to the PM’s assertion of 40% of immigrants claiming benefits.

High net migration has a positive correlation for the British economy, when immigrants come to the UK they contribute more to the country then they take-out. They tend to be of working-age and they help maintain the balance between the working population and the retired. Foreign students alone account for £2.5 billion being pumped into the economy, in addition to this Eastern European migrants add £5 billion to the economy. Moreover, our public services such as the NHS are dependent on immigrant labour with 40% of nurses born outside the UK and 40% of doctors originating from South Asia.

Most of the so-called new proposals in Cameron’s speech are not in-fact new. If you claim job seekers allowance you have to show that you’re actively seeking work. This has been the case for a number of years now and benefits are not automatically given and can be taken away.

In terms of immigration levels, immigration has been dropping for the last few years. In 2010 250,000 people came into the UK, but by 2011 this number had dropped in 215,000. These numbers coming into to the country are offset against the numbers of people leaving the country. The number of people who left the country between 2004-2011 was 660,000.The idea that the UK is being overrun is factually wrong.

The political debate on immigration has been premised on the demonisation of the other. That other, by the way, is usually non-white. To some extent it is sad to see all mainstream parties gravitating to this ground. Labour Leader Ed Miliband recently made a speech in which he said migrants should learn English.

And whilst he knows that most migrants want to learn English, because they know its a route to jobs, he felt he had to say something to show he's not being left behind by the tide of immigrant bashing. This sad discourse panders to people's base prejudice, which in turn creates an impression of society which is struggling to breathe because it is being overburdened by foreigners. I agree with Mr Cameron, a sensible debate on immigration is needed, but a debate based on the actual facts and not our ‘fears’.

Usman Butt