Immigrants are crucial to what we know as Britain today. Not only is immigration ingrained in British culture, it also has an astounding impact on our economy. Yet for a country that needs immigration, the UK government has made it its mission to create a hostile environment for the very people that make the country complete. Despite their constant repetition that immigration rates are rising and the country is in crisis, the number of immigrants living in the UK has decreased in the last few years.
According to the Migration Observatory in 2021/22, immigrants made up 16% of the population, but in 2022/23 that number dropped to 14.8%. So all the government is doing is fear-mongering and creating a divide. Force-feeding people this idea that immigrants are flooding in more than ever before and posing a threat to society as we know it, is just another way of the government shifting blame. Another distraction tactic to cover up their own mistakes and blame the failure of the economy on high rates of immigration.
The most common accusation hurled at immigrants at every corner is “They’re taking our jobs.” Usually, this ignorant and racist fuelled remark comes from people who don’t have a singular GCSE qualification, yet think they’re too good for manual labour jobs. Even if immigrants are stealing your jobs, they’re taking the ones no one wants to do. Immigrants are being exploited by the government for their cheap labour, so trust me you don’t want the jobs they’re supposedly ‘stealing.’
There’s also the misconception that immigrants are benefit scroungers, yet according to the Migration Observatory, “Unemployed migrants were less likely to claim unemployment benefits than unemployed people born in the UK.”
The reality is that there are in fact more migrants in the British workforce but more Brits are also employed. The Office of National Statistics found that while the numbers of EU workers in Britain has increased since 2013, it is outnumbered by the extra one million Britons who have gone into employment in the same period.
Immigration increases both the supply of labour and, over time, the demand for labour, thus creating new vacancies. In other words, without immigrants ‘taking your jobs’ there would be a labour shortage and thus no jobs for them to actually take.
Hand in hand with the labour market is the economy. While a rise in immigration can indeed lead to a real drop in GDP per capita, there are so many other economical benefits that counteract this issue. According to the Office for National Statistics, migrants contribute approximately £83 billion to the UK’s economic output annually.
Studies have also found that immigrants are far more likely to start new business ventures in comparison to their UK born and bred counterparts. This furthers their contributions to the UK economy in terms of revenue, employment, and tax contributions.
However, the biggest reason as to why the UK needs immigrants is due to the cultural enrichment they provide. The UK would not be famous if it wasn’t for the diversity that blossoms within it. I mean come on, the national British dish is a Chicken Tikka Masala - even tea originates from China.
“Immigrants brought their own country’s cultures with them to Britain, such as sport, cuisine, music and entertainment. The twentieth century normalised the multi-cultural society that we live in today and normalised public figures of colour from various different cultural fields.” - Ian R G Spencer.
Everything from food, music, art and festivals have been made better by the presence of foreign nationals. Take Notting Hill Carnival, one of the biggest carnivals in the world and a thing London is famous for, brought to us by the West Indian communities. The list of benefits is endless while the list of risks is limited, so the bottom line is - the UK needs immigrants.
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