S07107                                                                                          22 November 2007

SOME FORMS OF MIGRATION ARE BENEFICIAL TO BRITAIN

Stafford’s Labour MP David Kidney has been asking a series of Questions in Parliament to find out the costs and benefits of people coming to Britain from other parts of the world. He says the answers from Ministers demonstrate that we need to distinguish between good and bad migration:

“As the Ministers’ answers show, it is good for Britain that tourists visit Britain, students come to study here and workers come here to fill skills gaps. So:-

□ In 2006, there were 32 million visits to the UK by overseas residents, bringing around £40 billion of spending to the UK;
□ In 2005/06, just over 330,000 international students studied at UK Universities, bringing added value to the UK economy of over £5.5 billion;
□ The Treasury estimates that migrant workers contributed around £6 billion to the growth of our economy in 2006.

“And there are wider benefits in addition to the economic. For example, when visitors return to their home countries, we want them to have a good opinion of us and we want their countries to have good relations with our country.

“Of course there is a price to pay for attracting people to the UK. People fleeing the threat of torture and death in their home countries seek asylum here – and of course we should provide a safe haven in genuine cases. Others know very well that they should not be here but enter our country illegally, many of them smuggled here by organised criminal gangs. Others still are tricked or forced into a human trafficking trade that ends in sickening abuse and exploitation.

“In these unacceptable cases, we do need to be better at protecting our borders, detecting illegal entrants and removing those who are not entitled to be here. But in addressing these needs, let’s not lump all migrants together. Let’s remember the benefits to our country of the legitimate trades and activities that the Answers to my Questions highlight. In this way, perhaps the public debate about migration can be better balanced.”