Britain has a long and proud history of opening its doors to the vulnerable and oppressed; of welcoming workers, students and tourists from across the world. I believe that Britain is a tolerant and welcoming country.
But, right now, we have a big problem with immigration data. UK migration statistics are worryingly inadequate. Between 2001 and 2011, ‘official’ records were off by 350,000.
Without sound evidence it is difficult – if not impossible – to build a full picture of the scale and nature of inward migration to the UK. Policy suffers as a result. How can we plan for the future of schools and hospitals if we don’t know how many people might need to use them? Before we can judge where to spend or invest taxpayers’ money, we need to know where people are living, how long they might live there and whether it’s affordable.
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