Someone has to fight the fight on immigration.

And that someone is you.

We live in dark times. In a period of economic contraction – and with a government which stirs up social and economic fear so that it can present itself as the solution, and which sets one group against another, dividing so that it can merrily get on with ruling – we are all prone to scapegoating.

We are better than that. But the media is torrential. Politicians aren’t daring to make the arguments on immigration. Instead they are at pains constantly to acknowledge and dignify ‘legitimate concerns’.

Immigration has no significant impact on wages.  It causes some increases and some decreases, but in either direction, the effects are small.

An increase in the number of migrants corresponding to 1% of the UK-born working-age population results in an increase in average wages of 0.1 to 0.3%.

However, there are some losers: each 1% increase in the share of migrants in the UK-born working age population leads to a 0.6% decline in the wages of the 5% lowest paid workers (whilst also leading to an increase in the wages of higher paid workers.)

This subset of losers (the 5% lowest paid) tend themselves to be migrants already working in the UK.

Source: Migration Observatory, Oxford

Immigrants are cleverer than us.

UK natives with a university degree: 24%.

European immigrants with a university degree: 35%.

Non-European immigrants with a university degree: 41%

University College, London. Nov 2014
(2011 data)