Can the Prime Minister be seriously
contemplating cutting links with the single market – Britain’s largest trading area – because she really believes that “securing the borders” is a more important
priority?
The need to secure the borders, a hardly
concealed code for keeping out migrants, is a total nonsense. The borders are
secure or if they aren’t a lot of public money is being expended on the Borders
Agency and a myriad of private supporting companies charged with attaining that
goal.
The whole Brexit vote it seems was
increasingly prefaced on a number of lies. Foremost among these was the migrant
myth, namely that migrants were all flocking in for benefits because Britain is
an easy touch. Among the migrants were criminals and wrongdoers.
Now to leave the la la land of Express and
Daily Mail story telling, the reality is somewhat different.
Migrants come to the UK predominantly to
work or study. It has been their contribution among other things that has
led to the buoyancy of the UK economy. If the work were not here
neither would the migrants be.
During the EU referendum debate the good
news story on immigration rarely surfaced. If it had people would understand
that migration was not the cause of growing levels of poverty across the land.
Some facts. 17% of the workforce is made up
of non-British born workers (that is 5.4 million of a 31.6 million workforce). This
has increased from 8% in 2000.
Some 19% of NHS workers are foreign born.
The IPPR think tank has warned that the NHS would “collapse” without its EU
workers.
Education is a major growing sector for the
UK economy, with foreign students estimated to contribute £11.8 billion.
A study by University College London found
that European migrants made a net contribution of £20 billion to UK public finances between
2000 and 2011.
Many of the
migrant workforce is made up of single people who work here for a while but
then go home. They pay taxes for which they do not receive the requisite public
services in return. Net winner the British tax payer.
Migrant labour is also needed to meet skills
shortages, that become particularly stark when the reducing ratio between the
young (under 16s) and the old (over 65s) are taken into account.
If UK citizens want to retain their present
level of public services then the revenue generated by migrant workers - as well
as those workers themselves - are desperately needed.
The fact there has been free movement over
recent years is a major factor in the buoyancy of the British economy.
Ironically, it has been the high level of migrants coming into the UK over
recent years compared to other European countries that has contributed to the strength
of the economy here compared to elsewhere.
Given, all of the aforesaid, how incredible
to hear the Prime Minister welcoming the news that there are now fewer EU
nationals coming to the UK, post Brexit. This PM seems to hang onto the
ridiculous ideal of the former occupant of the office that it is a good thing
to reduce net migration down to the tens of thousands. This is an economically
illiterate position for any leader of a political party to adopt.
The one way to really reduce migration is
to destroy the economic base. An economy in recession will not offer the jobs ,
so migrants will not be coming. This position in reality is the one the PM
seems to be saying she wants above all else, when she puts controlling
immigration above trade with our neighbours.
All of that said migration has not been
handled well over the past couple of decades, Migrants have been allowed to
come in and used by unscrupulous employers – including private householders
wanting work done on the cheap to their properties – to undercut the pay and terms
and conditions of the indigenous workforce. This effective use of migration as
an unofficial incomes policy has led to some of the grievances that helped to
build the anti-migrant atmosphere.
These problems could have been addressed by
having a higher minimum wage, that was stringently enforced. Also, no
undercutting of terms and conditions, whilst ensuring the migrant labourers
joined trade unions.
The problem with the EU referendum debate
was that people were fed a pack of lies to the effect that all of their
problems were due to migrants and the EU. The reality was most of their problems
emanated from the banking crisis of 2008 and the austerity policies that
followed.
The result has been large numbers of people
across the country seeing their wages flatline or reduce. The banks have got
away with ripping off the tax payer for huge amounts of money and continue to
do so.
The direction of anger toward the
scapegoats of migrants and the EU has largely resulted from a number of unscrupulous
MPs lying to the electorate and the cacophony of xenophobic ill informed racist
coverage of issues like immigration in the right wing media.
The great irony of the result of the
referendum is that the mass of the people who voted to leave the EU together
with everyone else stand to become poorer. Wages will not rise but prices will
courtesy of the falling pound.
The attacks on migrants are making this
country seem like a hostile place, so fewer are coming = this will have huge implications
for the economy as a whole and the education sector in particular. It is
reported that the number of foreigners looking to attend further education
institutions in the UK is plummeting.
The net effect is less money for public services,
like education, health, care and transport.
So is the PM really as daft as a number of
her recent pronouncements on Brexit suggest? Or is it all window dressing for a
new deal with the EU that can be to the benefit of all. We all have to hope it
is the latter. But given the positive reaction to the news of reduced numbers
of migrants coming to the UK and begging bowl approach of British ministers
seemingly trotting round the world looking for whatever trade deals the likes
of the US, Australia and New Zealand will offer I would not bet on it.
Published New Internationalist - 2/3/2017 - http://newint.org/blog/2017/03/02/is-prime-minister-theresa-may-really-as-economically-illiterate/
Tribune - 11/3/2017
Morning Star - 1/4/2017 https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-a28b-Migrants-as-smoke-screen#.WOE9WaPdX4g
No comments:
Post a Comment