Crisis a challenge that we'll have to learn to live with

ACCORDING to Nigel Farage, migration is a financial burden on UK taxpayers. Economists, though, argue that migration boosts the economy, thus increasing tax revenues, and can fill gaps in our workforce.

- Giuseppe Bignardi

Farage's cherished policy, Brexit, did not reduce migration. A succession of Conservative governments, whilst indulging in “stop the boats” rhetoric, did not reduce authorised migration as they felt it was beneficial.

Statistics from the Migration Observatory show that migrants are more likely to be at work than the rest of the population. The only exception are asylum seekers, who are more likely to be unemployed, but they represented only 13% of immigration in 2024 and are allowed to stay only when UK assessors recognise them as refugees.

We should be proud of the fact that we accept genuine asylum seekers. Nigel Farage has also claimed that migration is a burden on the NHS, when actually migrants represent a significant proportion of those working in the health and social care sectors, thus helping us all.

According to Farage, migrants are responsible for many crimes. However, the Migration Observatory website shows that foreign nationals account for 13% of criminal convictions and 12% of the prison population in England and Wales, which is in line with their share of the adult population.