The latest immigration figures....

[alphadog]

I thought Scotland wanted high immigration? Weren't they bleating on about needing more workers?

The oil and gas industry in Scotland is in freefall... the last thing Scotland needs is more immigrants looking for work in that industry anyway

[alphadog]

Immigration from the EU 251000

Immigration from outside the EU 292,000

The government can stop net migration tomorrow if it really wants to. It has complete control of immigration of non-EU citizens. 292000 to be exact.

That' s a population of a small city, could be stopped tomorrow. It is perfectly within the power of the government to set a quota on non-EU immigrants so that emigration matches immigration. You could still allow 100000 non EU immigrants and have no net migration.

I must admit, I am surprised there are more non-EU immigrants than EU immigrants.

However, putting a quota on non-EU immigration would run rough shod over all sorts of long standing international agreements. It would also require a swathe of immigration law/policy to be changed. Would we be comfortable for example in denying entry to children of UK passport holders living overseas? Or what about British born people overseas who relinquished their UK citizenship and decide to move home? What about highly skilled migrants? What about people who previously had right of abode in the UK, left, and now want to return? Pandora's box of consequences me thinks.

[xoggoth]

Although Germany which has many more immigrants than the UK

No it doesn't. 592200 vs 498,000 in 2012, as a percentage of population that's higher for the UK. As a percentage of land area, higher still.

[xoggoth]

Would we be comfortable for example in denying entry to children of UK passport holders living overseas? Or what about British born people overseas who relinquished their UK citizenship and decide to move home? What about highly skilled migrants? What about people who previously had right of abode in the UK, left, and now want to return?

So what's wrong with rules that do allow such people in and keep out the unskilled with no links to the UK? Hardly that difficult.

[minestrone]

Scotland does not want more migrants, the majority of Scottish people are against it,

The SNP however want to double it to 25,000 per year. They don't have a say on migration however.

The only ones that I see around here are shifty ones from the Balkans.

[vetran]

No it doesn't. 592200 vs 498,000 in 2012, as a percentage of population that's higher for the UK. As a percentage of land area, higher still.

don't confuse him with facts!

[vetran]

With migrants flooding the jobs market wages are being pushed downwards.

Migrants causing a glut of skilled workers

Ashley Mullins - Charlie Mullins' grandson? hmm.

[alphadog]

So what's wrong with rules that do allow such people in and keep out the unskilled with no links to the UK? Hardly that difficult.

I think you'll find that the current rules already keep out pretty much every non-EU unskilled person who doesn't have any links to the UK.

For example, if you are an Australian without any links to the UK and want to move to the UK long term, in most cases you will need to have at least a masters degree and collect enough points to get a Tier 1 visa, ie, be highly skilled.

[darmstadt]

No it doesn't. 592200 vs 498,000 in 2012, as a percentage of population that's higher for the UK. As a percentage of land area, higher still.

Total number of long-term immigrants arriving into the reporting country during the reference year of 2013:

Germany: 692,713
UK: 526,046

Eurostat - Tables, Graphs and Maps Interface (TGM) table

Population:

Germany: 80767463 (0.85% in 2013)
UK: 64308261 (0.81% immigrants in 2013)

[BlasterBates]

Not all EU immigrants come to wash windows with squeezy bottles

EU migrants 'good for UK economy' - Home News - UK - The Independent

From the fiscal point of view, this immigration has not been at all a burden on the welfare system. Rather, it has contributed to strengthen the fiscal position

During the recession, migrant workers may fare better in the employment market than native Britons because of their better skills and qualification, Prof Dustmann concluded.