Let 'Em In: The Immigration Controversy

LET 'EM IN: THE IMMIGRATION CONTROVERSY

THE EXPANSION OF THE EU

In 2010, a labour supporting ex-councilwoman from Rochdale called Gillian Duffy confronted the then Prime Minister (Gordon Brown). She asked a bunch of questions, one of which- "all of these Eastern Europeans what are coming in, where are they flocking from?"- resulted in her being dismissed as a bigot when Brown thought he was out of earshot.

(Gillian Duffy and Gordon Brown. Image from the Daily Record)

Anyone seeking a proper answer to Mrs Duffey's question would have to look back to May 2004. That was when the EU was due to undergo its largest expansion in terms of territory, population levels and number of states. The reason why was because former communist countries of central and Eastern Europe were set to join. Those newcomers were Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. The most important thing to note about these countries is that their economic output was much lower compared to that of the existing member states. Acceptance into the EU therefore presented a golden opportunity for the people of these countries, for it meant they would have the right to move anywhere in the EU whether there was a job offer waiting for them or not, and be entitled to the same rights and privileges as national citizens. It was also good news for business because, since those job-seekers were coming from countries whose per capita GDP was less than half the EU average, they were willing to offer cheaper labour.

It was not good news for everyone, however. For those nationals who were already at the lower end of the labour market, the arrival of an even cheaper workforce put their jobs under threat. Most of the existing member states recognised this problem, and therefore decided to implement transitional controls that delayed the process of full membership into the EU seven years. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, for instance, told the German people in 2000:

"Many of you are concerned about expansion of the EU … The German government will not abandon you with your concerns … We still have 3.8 million unemployed, the capacity of the German labour market to accept more people will remain seriously limited for a long time. We need transitional arrangements with flexibility for the benefit of both the old and the new member states".

Accordingly, Germany initially maintained transition controls like bilateral quotas on the number of immigrants and work permits. All of the big European countries decided to take up transitional controls with one exception, and that was the UK.

The reason why New Labour decided not to implement transitional controls had to do with the findings of a research team, lead by Professor Christian Dustman, that had been commissioned by the Home Office. That research suggested that only 13,000 immigrants were expected to arrive each year. The economy was booming at the time, and the Performance and Innovation Unit at No 10 had produced a 73-page report that claimed the foreign-born population in the UK contributed ten percent more to government revenue than it received in State handouts.

It could also be said that, even if the Home office wanted strict controls on immigration, they would have come under pressure from other departments. These included the foreign office, who had diplomatic reasons for being pro-immigration, the department of education, who looked forward to extra revenue from foreign students, and, perhaps most important of all, the Business department, who certainly weren't going to turn their nose up at an influx of cheap and willing labour. Finally, as we have seen in a previous essay, New Labour's cabinet were children of the 60s and 70s, had grown up during the struggles for racial equality, and became adults with a metropolitan liberal mindset that was very much pro-multiculturalism. For all those reasons, New Labour decided not to apply transitional controls.

There was, however, an important caveat to the Dustman report's claim that the number of immigrants coming to the UK would be 13,000 per year. The report actually said that the numbers would be a great deal higher if the other member states decided to impose transitional controls. As we have seen, that is indeed what they decided to do.

Between 2004 and 2012, 423,000 migrants came to the UK. As the noughties progressed, the effects of global conflicts and financial crises resulted in an even greater swelling of numbers. A combination of people fleeing middle-east conflict and expansion of the EU (many members of which were suffering crippling austerity due to the financial mess that was the Euro) meant that the UK's population was increasing by 2.2 million, equivalent to a city twice the size of Birmingham.

Given that they were coming from countries that were either more economically poor or suffering from conflicts, this influx consisted of people who were prepared to offer much cheaper labour, and the effects of this were becoming apparent and were spoken about by people not afraid to defy political correctness that equated any concern over uncontrolled immigration with xenophobia. People like Nigel Farage:

"‘By 2005, it was obvious that something quite fundamental was going on. People were saying, “We’re being seriously undercut here'".

In the next essay, we'll look at who benefits from uncontrolled immigration- and who doesn't.

REFERENCES

"How to Lose a Referendum" by Jason Farrell and Paul Goldsmith

Wikipedia