ENGLAND and IMMIGRATION

EMIGRATION

I have not yet mentioned skin colour or religion. However, it is worth noting that in 1985 the white British population of London was 85.7%. In 2022 the figure was 36.8%, an increase of non-white population of 133%. I mention this statistic because it is publicly available. I have not been able, yet, to compare the figures for indigenous British and immigrants of all races, which of course would show a much higher figure.

Why am I quoting this figure? Because the elephant in the room is emigration. The 1960s were known as the period of the 'brain drain' when about 230,000 Britons left the country every year - a fact that was constantly in the news at the time because it was considered that the 'brightest and the best' were leaving. This figure was fairly steady until the mid 1980s when it began to increase. By 2023 it had risen to about 530,000 Britons leaving the country each year. This means since the mid 1960s when figures were first compiled in excess of 12,000,000 people with 'get-up-and-go' have got up and left. In the interest of balance I should point out that Germany also has a high emigration rate.

What reason?

Even so, In my opinion this is a figure more stunning than than the immigration figures. So why do people leave. Interestingly the resons why people leave the Uk are the reasons why people leave Germany: better prospects for the well educated elsewhere, taxation too high.

The very fact that other countries are happy to permit British migrants entering indicates that this contingent is comprised of 'quality' people, whether they be scientist, technologist or are judged as just plain hard-working good people.

The question has to asked, what has caused the UK to be so bad a place to live that millions of our people are prepared to give up everything and start life again in a foreign country? It must be more than the lousy weather.

Skills decline

The big problem with this issue is that people of competence and ability are leaving while most of the immigrants, so it would seem, have moderate or zero skills. According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development [https://www.cipd.org] the vast majority of visa applications are to work in the NHS and care sector (see graph). Of these the majority of applications are from south Asian countries. This is not a balanced immigration system at work and this does indicate how, in modern Britain, the NHS has become the tail that wags the dog. Whenever a pro immigration spokesperson is interviewed, it is the National Health Service and the need for more nurses that is cited.

Providing medical care for the very old, the very young and the infirm has become the number one priority in Britain. Everything else comes a very poor second. Important though this is, the NHS, in its present form, together with mis-directed social programmes, are leaving few resources left for anything else — including the support and development of commercial activity, the income from which supports everything else in the country.