Brown ‘Used Wrong Immigration Statistics

The figures Gordon Brown gave in a podcast about immigration were wrong, the statistics watchdog has told the Prime Minister in an open letter.

The PM’s speech was correct but his podcast was not, the letter says

Mr Brown “did not use comparable” sets of data when he discussed the number of people who had come to Britain in recent years, the note the chair of the UK Statistics Authority said.

A statement from Downing Street said it accepted some of the numbers used were unclear and not strictly comparable.

The Prime Minister used the podcast to talk about his points system and reassure working families that the system is fair.

“Some people talk as if net inward migration is rising. In fact, it is falling – down from 237,000 in 2007, to 163,000 in 2008, to provisional figures of 147,000 last year,” he said.

“Some people talk as if all immigrants stay here forever. In fact, most come for short periods and then return to their own country.”

But the chair of the statistics authority, Sir Michael Scholar, said the figure for 2007 should have been lower – the official number was 233,000, not 237,000.

It means the scale of the fall is less dramatic than Mr Brown implied.

There is an urgent need for immediate steps to properly control immigration instead of the free for all flood of  migrants some with no skills and many who cant even speak English.

Labour systematically ignored the warnings just to rub the rights nose in it and in the hope of getting more votes. They betrayed the interests of Britain and the British people and now growing pressure mounts on all major frontline services with education, healthcare and the prisons bursting under the strain of an endless flood of people invited into the UK by Labour.

Labour lied to us all.

Jim Ferguson

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Thursday, February 25 2010

Damian Green has accused the Government of allowing immigration to run “out of control” following new evidence published by the Home Office.

The Shadow Immigration Minister was commenting on figures that lay bare the extent to which the Labour Government has failed to get a grip on the level of immigration in the UK.

The Home Office figures show more student visas being issued than ever and visas, settlements and EU benefit claims all up.

New asylum statistics also reveal that there are more asylum seekers arriving in Britain than failed asylum seekers leaving.

Damian said these immigration figures, the last to be published before a General Election make it clear that immigration “has been running out of control throughout the lifetime of this Government”, and he added:

“Even in a recession with more than two million unemployed the number of work visas issued is going up. So much for British jobs for British workers.”

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