Metcalfe welcomes immigration fall (From Thurrock Gazette)
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Metcalfe welcomes immigration fall
3:00pm Sunday 30th September 2012 in News
EAST Thurrock MP Stephen Metcalfe has welcomed the first fall in net migration into the UK since 2008.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show the estimated net migration in the UK fell to 216,000 in the year to December 2011, down from 252,000 in the year to December 2010.
From June 2011 to June 2012, the number of student visas issued has declined by 30 per cent compared to the year before. Politicians are putting all this down to a raft of recent reforms to the immigration system.
Stephen said: “Immigration is a very important issue for people in Thurrock. “I know that local people were deeply frustrated about the chaos which was the hallmark of our immigration system for too long.
“For years under Labour immigration was uncontrolled.
“Net migration to Britain reached more than 2.2 million people - more than twice the population of Birmingham.
“The system was broken and nothing was being done to fix it.”
The Conservative MP added: “We now have a Government which is doing what is needed to bring immigration under control.
“All the routes of entry into the UK are being tightened up.
“Economic migration has been capped, bogus students are being turned away, and the rules on family migration are being made more robust.
“We are now seeing the impact of this. Immigration is still too high but we now have a government which is determined to bring it down to sustainable levels in the tens of thousands.”
Comments(14)
fletch12107
says...
4:51pm Sun 30 Sep 12
Thurrock Trojan
says...
9:39pm Sun 30 Sep 12
Immigration did get out of control under Labour and I do not support these current figures published by the Government.
The incompetent Theresa May has hacked the UK Border Agency to pieces which has resulted in longer queuing times at airports due to staffing shortages. Additionally, cutting corners as part of the decision making process is a problem.
Stephen Metcalfe has no room to shout. What did he - and his counterpart Jackie Doyle Price - do when Corryton closed? Absolutely nothing. Instead, the pair of them are hell-bent in partaking in publicity stunts and sucking up to their rich and foreign constituents.
Jackie Doyle Price has the audacity to ask us to feel sorry for the bankers yet shows lack of sympathy for those who lost their jobs at Corryton.
Stephen Metcalfe and Jackie Doyle Price are like the rest of this useless, rotten Government: Completely out of touch with reality.
Thurrock Trojan
says...
9:49pm Sun 30 Sep 12
Wrong. The majority of Africans who have poured into Thurrock were actually paid to move out of London by land developers. Vast amounts of properties in London have been demolished as part of regeneration.
As for the Eastern Europeans, anywhere you visit across the country has been affected by them. The Government cannot stop them migrating here because they are part of the EU.
I dread to think how many Romanian gypsies will flock to the UK once the gates are lifted.
Thurrock Trojan
says...
9:58pm Sun 30 Sep 12
SaveOurStanford
says...
10:31pm Sun 30 Sep 12
Ed Woods
says...
8:54am Mon 1 Oct 12
Ed Woods
says...
10:48am Mon 1 Oct 12
A quick look at the figures issued by the Office of National Stastics shows Mr Metcalfe is being very selective in the figures he is using. Official figures show immigration has remained about the same since 2004. The Conservatives havn't cut immigration so stop teling porkies Mr Metcalfe.
Here are the actual figures:-
Migration Statistics Quarterly Report August 2012•
Estimated total long-term immigration to the UK in the year to December 2011 was 566,000. This compares to 591,000 in the year to December 2010 and has remained broadly at a similar level since 2004
•Estimated total long-term emigration from the UK in the year to December 2011 was 350,000. This compares to 339,000 in the year to December 2010
•Estimated net migration was 216,000 in the year to December 2011. This is lower, but is not a statistically significant difference, from 252,000 in the year to December 2010
•Study remains the most common reason for migrating to the UK estimated at 232,000 in the year to December 2011. This is similar to 238,000 in the year to December 2010
•In the year to June 2012 there were 282,833 visas issued for the purpose of study (including student visitors), a fall of 21% compared with the previous 12 months
•601,000 National Insurance numbers (NINos) were allocated to non-UK nationals in the year to March 2012, a decrease of 15 per cent on the year to March 2011
•147,385 work-related visas were issued in the year to June 2012, a fall of 7 per cent compared to the previous 12 months
•Excluding visitor and transit visas, the number of visas issued fell 16% to 519,730 in the year ending June 2012 (compared with 616,184 in the previous 12 months), to the lowest 12-monthly total recorded using comparable data available from 2005
rogwj
says...
11:07am Mon 1 Oct 12
Thurrock Trojan
says...
5:25pm Mon 1 Oct 12
The sooner the Tories are kicked out, the better.
Marcus P
says...
10:17pm Mon 1 Oct 12
e is having a laugh. There are more immigrants of all colours and creeds in Grays than ever before.
I just don't understand why the UK with its near bankrupt, post industrial economy, needs to import people en masse from poor countries like Nigeria.
Perhaps Nu Lab imported million of welfare dependent migrants from 1997 to 2010 to replace white working class Brits as it’s core voting base.
I can think of no other reason. Few if any of these people are net contributors to the tax revenues of UK plc.
Bernard 87
says...
8:58am Tue 2 Oct 12
Marcus may have a point about Labour replacing their core vote with more reliable voters.
Pete(ukip)Smith
says...
9:16pm Wed 3 Oct 12
Marcus P
says...
8:02pm Thu 4 Oct 12
Pete(ukip)Smith wrote:Immigration could be reduced by 90% if the following rules were introduced.
Marcus P makes some very valid points, one wonders at what point will people stop and think...some 1300 per day arriving on our shores at a time when our economy is in the doldrums and our infrastructure is sadly behind the curve...
1: Restore the primary purpose rule which limited ‘fetching marriages’
2: Make all non UK citizens take out private health insurance until they have five continuous years tax contributions.
3: The same as 2 but for welfare entitlement including tax credits and housing benefits.
4: All spouses and children brought over must be sponsored by the ‘fetching’ migrant.
Such rules are the norm in most countries. They would end health and benefit tourism which is costing billions per year and far outweighs tax revenues from low paid migrants.
Do this and watch immigration fall to pre 1997 levels.
UKIP need to push this type of policy in the next election.
rogwj says...
4:27pm Sun 30 Sep 12