British National Party UK Immigration News Bulletin w/c March 5, 2007
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1. HOUSE PRICES ALSO DETERMINED BY MIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION

Another report vindicates our claim that immigration is the real reason behind this increase in house prices.

http://firstrung.co.uk/articles.asp?pageid=NEWS&articlekey=4173

Research by Propertyfinder. com has revealed migration and immigration into the UK are major determinants of house prices. Propertyfinder. com's research looked at regional population changes brought about by both internal and international migration and compared them to house price changes. The extra demand for housing that migration and immigration could explain much of the regional difference in house price performance around the country. There is a 73% correlation between regional population growth and house price growth. Regions with the highest inward migration have seen the highest house price increases, while the least popular regions have seen house prices underperform. Exclude the North East, an exception to the trend, and the correlation is an astonishing 94%.

Warren Bright, chief executive officer of Propertyfinder.com, said:
"The overall level of house prices depends largely on the wider economy. However the relative strength of regional housing markets is very clearly due in large part to population movement. Whether it is people wanting to buy their own home to live in, or investors providing rental accommodation to newcomers, demand for housing in the most popular regions has caused prices to rise the fastest. While these population trends continue, our research suggests that the best performing regions which have been attracting the most migrants will continue to see house prices outperform over the medium term."

Supply is unable to match demand in popular regions.
London is a case in point. It has seen the fastest population growth over the last ten years (8%) and the fastest growth in house prices over the same period (216%). This is well above the UK average of 5% and 191% respectively. House prices are well above the national average and population density is ten times that of the second most densely populated region in Britain. Regions in the North of England have seen lower population growth and slower rises in house prices.

Bright continued:
"This highlights the chronic supply/demand imbalance for housing in the UK. On average the population of the south is growing almost twice as fast as the north. The provision of new housing is lagging far behind, and prices, not surprisingly, keep on rising. London's population alone will double by 2050 if its current rate of expansion continues - imagine the impact on house prices then." The North East is the exception to the trend. Despite having an exceptionally low growth in population, house prices have seen a significant rise over the last ten years. This is primarily because house prices were so low ten years ago that some degree of catch up was warranted. Even so, the region still has the lowest average house prices nationwide (£137,229). If you exclude the North East, the correlation between regional population increase and house price increase goes up to 94%.

Immigrants and UK migrants do not favour the same regions
London in particular is experiencing the fastest rate of population growth and rise in house prices, largely due to the fact that 36% of all immigrants set up home in the capital. Despite London being the choice destination for immigrants, British residents are moving out of the capital faster than any other area. 2004 figures show net migration of British citizens away from London stood at -116,200 but the city continues to grow faster than any other area of the UK with immigration rates ensuring London's net population increase of 1.61% annually. Top destinations for immigrants from outside the UK are London (36%), the South East (12%), and the East (8%). In contrast, London has the highest number of British citizens moving out, and the top destinations for them to set up home are the South West (0.67%), Wales (0.48%) and the East Midlands (0.42%).

Bright added:
"UK residents of England's two biggest cities, London and Birmingham, are clearly keen to seek a life in a less hectic environment and are moving away from these regions. The figures for London show extraordinarily high turnover in population. Newcomers from abroad are attracted to Britain's big cities where work is easy to come by. After a time, city life can be pretty draining and once people are established they seek a less hectic life elsewhere and move out."

Population growth set to continue
According to the Treasury's December pre-budget report, Net immigration is forecast to continue at a rate of 185,000 - 190,000 - an increase on previous central predictions. National statistics predicts that net population will grow to 67,013,000 by 2031.

Household numbers are on the up too
Local government figures also show that household formation is on the up, due not only to population increase, but also the significant rise in the number of single person dwellings. With the DCLG's projected increase in households of 209,000 per annum until the year 2026 the current new build rate of 170,000 new homes a year falls seriously under requirements.

Bright concluded:
"Household formation is growing even faster than the population. That will only exacerbate the trends, pushing demand for housing further ahead of supply. Once again, regional differences will come to the fore."

2. INDIAN IT FIRMS EXPLOIT UK VISA SYSTEM BY PLACING STAFF IN 'SWEATSHOPS' TO PRODUCE SOFTWARE FOR BACK-OFFICE FUNCTIONS

http://www.personneltoday.com/Articles/2007/02/27/39423/indian-it-firms-exploit-uk-visa-system-by-placing-staff-in-sweatshops-to-produce-software-for.html

Thousands of workers from India are working in "sweatshop factories" in the UK, earning illegally low wages to produce software for back-office systems such as payroll and absence management, Personnel Today has learned. Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act to the Association of Technology Staffing Companies (Atsco) revealed that Indians were granted 26,835 (or just under 80%) of the 33,756 IT work permits issued during 2006. Ann Swain, Atsco's chief executive, said that Indian firms were bringing staff to UK offices on short-term transfers to work cheaply and then take the knowledge back home. "They are working in sweatshop factories, not learning English, some are in hostels and most are not learning the culture," Swain said. "We have had calls from people saying they are earning less than half what they could on the open market," she added. Trade union Amicus said a Home Office document it had seen revealed that one in six approved visas breached government rules, which state that overseas workers must earn as much as UK residents doing similar work.

The union said that British IT workers were losing their jobs to Indians, who would work for less, and that this was damaging the home-grown industry. "There is growing evidence of substitution and displacement of resident workers. This destroys pathways to UK jobs," said Amicus national officer Peter Skyte. But the British Computer Society (BCS) questioned the views of Atsco and Amicus. Elizabeth Sparrow, chair of the BCS working party on offshoring, said: "There are some queries about whether they are paid as much, but they are not being exploited. They are paid highly compared with their colleagues back home." The Home Office said it took abuse of the work permit system "extremely seriously", but did not accept that ongoing abuse existed.

Top five countries for UK IT work visas

1 India 26,835

2 US 1,501

3 Australia 652

4 South Africa 645

5 China 494

Source: Atsco Freedom of Information request

3. 700 ARE ARRIVING EVERY DAY FROM EASTERN EUROPE

Further evidence that immigration is out of control and bad news for the British working class that is losing out to those new entrants.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=439044&in_page_id=1770

The number of Eastern Europeans flooding into Britain has soared to 700 a day. Official figures show there are 579,000 Poles and other residents of the former Soviet Bloc registered to work here. The total does not include the self-employed, children or partners of the migrants, who do not appear in the Government figures. The true number is likely to stand at 800,000 - or one in every 75 people living in the UK. It is the equivalent of a city the size of Leeds, the third biggest in the UK. The migrants - as well as placing enormous pressure on schools and hospitals - are receiving up to £75million in benefits. According to a Home Office report, 70,000 are receiving handouts such as tax credits, child benefit or council housing. It is a leap of 15,000 claimants in three months, or almost 30 per cent.

Most worrying for the Government is that the influx, which began with the controversial expansion of the EU eastwards in May 2004, shows no sign of slowing. During the last three months of 2006, there were a staggering 63,000 new applications to join the worker registration scheme. It is the equivalent of 700 a day, or 14 coachloads pulling into London's Victoria coach station. Crucially, the total is 23 per cent higher than during the same period of 2005 - when 566 arrived every day - suggesting that Poles and other Eastern Europeans are keener than ever to move here. Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said: "These statistics betray John Reid's utter failure to get a grip on the chaos in the immigration system. "The Government assured us that no more than 13,000 immigrants per year would arrive from A8 countries (those that joined the EU in 2004). This figure completely blows that estimate out of the water. "Immigration can be of real benefit to the country but only if it is properly controlled, taking into account its impact on the economy, public services and social cohesion. This is demonstrably not the case." The benefit payouts will be an embarrassment to the Government, which claimed they would be kept to a minimum. Ministers insist most of those heading here are young men with no interest in receiving state handouts.

But there are now 70,000 people in receipt of tax credits, child support and even council housing. Once a migrant has been working here for 12 months, they are entitled to the same level of support as any British citizen. Word has also reached Poland of generous benefit payments to eastern Europeans with children - including a rule which allows workers to claim Tax Credits for children even if they do not travel to Britain and remain in their homeland. There have been 533 successful applications for Income Support (£57.45 a week), 1,221 for Job Seeker's Allowance (also worth £57.45 a week) and 41 for State Pension Credit (which gives a guaranteed income of £114.05 a week.) Some 45,252 claim child benefit (worth £17.45 for the first child and £11.70 for each further youngster), 22,685 are receiving Tax Credits (worth up to £5,200 a year) and 173 families have been given local authority housing. Some 615 are receiving other homelessness support. The total bill is likely to be £75million. The figures pre-date the entry of Romania and Bulgaria to the EU, on January 1 this year.

4. MIGRANTS HAVE LIFTED ECONOMY, SAYS STUDY

Another report and another spin. “Lid on inflation” is a jargon for more exploitation of cheap manpower. House prices are not included in the inflation index and so this "low increase in inflation" doesn't reflect the real situation. As for the lack of skilled workers our position remains that we must first provide incentives to train our native workforce. The article claims that: • Influx of labour 'has kept interest rates down' • British-born workers have not been disadvantaged

http://money.guardian.co.uk/work/story/0,,2022112,00.html

The flow of migrant workers into the UK has boosted economic growth and helped keep a lid on inflation without undermining the jobs of British-born workers, according to a study released yesterday. The report by accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers enters a vigorous debate about whether immigration has a positive impact on the UK economy. Britain was one of three nations that allowed free movement of labour after eight countries entered the EU in 2004, including Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Estonia. Most of the migrants from all of these new EU countries - estimated at half a million - have moved to the UK, although evidence suggests half of them have since returned home. PwC's research found that the new arrivals had pushed growth above its long-term trend and helped keep inflationary pressures and interest rates lower by increasing the supply of labour relative to demand.

Average earnings growth has been relatively subdued recently, at just under 4% excluding bonuses, and PwC said migrant workers had contributed to this. This finding supports the view of Professor David Blanchflower of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee, who has voted to keep interest rates on hold on the basis of slack in the labour market. The Treasury has also increasingly focused on the impact of migration, citing expected net migration as a key reason for raising its estimate of future economic growth to 2.75% from 2.5% in last December's pre-budget report. The PwC report found that although migrant workers had increased the supply of labour in the UK, there had not been any adverse effects on the employment prospects of British-born workers. "[Migrant] workers tend to be relatively productive and have filled important skills gaps in the UK labour market rather than just displacing UK-born workers," said John Hawksworth, chief economist at PwC. The public finances have also not suffered as a result of the influx of migrant workers, the study finds. Most migrants are aged between 18 and 34 years, with high employment rates compared with their UK equivalents, and therefore benefit payments are low. They also receive comparatively low wages despite their good education and skills levels. Younger workers have fewer dependants and so are unlikely to be an additional burden on public services, the report says.

But Mr Hawksworth said the extra pressures on transport and housing might offset this slightly and should be taken into account in the forthcoming government spending review. "Public spending projections do not appear to have been revised up in the pre-budget report to reflect higher future assumed migration, which suggests that on a per capita basis the squeeze on public spending growth pencilled in for the next spending review period may be even tighter than earlier projected," he said. The benefits highlighted by Mr Hawksworth contrast with comments from Richard Lambert, director-general of the CBI. The head of Britain's leading employers' organisation said last year that the government should be wary of introducing an open-door policy to new workers from Romania and Bulgaria, which joined the EU this year. Mr Lambert warned that depending on migrant labour could mean skill levels of UK citizens would not be raised sufficiently and could risk damaging social cohesion.

5. EMPLOYERS FEAR EQUALITIES REVIEW DIVERSITY POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

http://www.personneltoday.com/Articles/2007/02/27/39421/employers-fear-equalities-review-diversity-policy-recommendations.html

Employers are fearing the worst from the Equalities Review, due to be published on 28 February, claiming they have not been fully consulted on future diversity policy. The Equalities Review, led by the Commission for Equality and Human Rights chairman Trevor Phillips, was set up in 2005 to investigate persistent discrimination in the UK. There has been growing speculation that it will call for more responsibilities to be placed on private firms when it submits its recommendations to the government. David Yeandle, deputy director of employment policy at manufacturers' body the EEF, told Personnel Today that firms were worried as they felt they had not been consulted by Phillips' review team. "We are concerned about the whole diversity area, and there has not been much employer engagement," he said, "although there does seem to have been lots of lobbying [from pressure groups]." Phillips said in December that special measures were needed to promote diversity, adding: "Some areas of employment will never stop being all-white without new kinds of positive action."