Post by Rareclan on Jul 23, 2012 21:27:13 GMT 10
www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/politics/article4444172.ece
KAVANAGH: Guests who brought nothing to party
IF mass immigration is so good for the economy, why isn’t Britain the richest nation in the world?
That’s a fair question as we settle into double-dip recession after a record population leap of FOUR MILLION in ten years — five million if you count illegals.
We have been told time and again that we need fresh blood to sustain an ageing population.
We have absorbed more foreign nationals than almost any country in Europe.
So why are we not forging ahead as our major cities burst at the seams with newcomers eager to work and prosper?
The answer is simple. We have opened the door to a flood of mostly illegal migrants without having a clue what to do with them.
True, many are adding to economic growth through hard work and enterprise.
But there are countless thousands who add nothing to our balance sheet.
They include many non-working women whose main role seems to be giving birth.
Net immigration, still running at 250,000 a year, is supplemented by a new baby boom.
The crisis has reached the point where schools are taking over disused shops, warehouses, magistrates’ courts and offices to teach children. By 2020, there will be 4.8million primary school age children — a fifth more than last year.
Lambeth, one of London’s most densely populated immigrant hubs, faces a “terrible perfect storm”, says local Labour councillor Rachel Heywood.
Who does she blame? Not Labour for opening the floodgates — despite party boss Ed Miliband’s recent half-hearted apology.
She doesn’t fault Labour for landing us with mountains of debt and no money to pay it off.
She blames the Coalition Government for cutting spending to save the country going bust. “We see in Lambeth a complete failure to understand the social and financial situation of children and families living in areas like this,” she wails.
What she complains of today was obvious ten years ago when the immigration flood was unleashed. Many people warned of the failure to plan — and were trashed as “racist” or “fascist” for their trouble. So why, after an unprecedented population boom, is immigration not paying for itself?
Why hasn’t the torrent of extra tax revenue provided new homes, hospitals, schools and public transport?
Because the money was used to keep five million workless Brits on welfare while five million newcomers took the jobs created during Gordon Brown’s debt-fuelled boom.
In those days, while British builders and plasterers struggled against competition from cut-price Poles, union leaders remained silent.
They are the same union leaders who, having been bribed handsomely by Labour, are now on the rampage with spiteful strikes aimed at inflicting maximum damage to the Olympics.
They include unscrupulous border guards who would put lives at risk on Thursday with a strike backed by barely 11 per cent of union members. Knowing how useless these border guards are, it would be worth asking if anyone will notice.
Not only were the public sector unions silent in the Blair-Brown years, they were complicit in turning a blind eye to the influx of illegal entries.
Instead of rounding them up and sending them home, they merely sent them on their way.
Today the Home Office select committee reveals a Border Agency backlog of 276,400 migrants who could or should have been deported.
Of these, 101,000 have simply disappeared.
The combination of uncontrolled immigration and union domination is toxic for Ed Miliband.
He is held responsible for one — and bought and paid for by the other.
For the moment his party holds a fragile ten-point lead over the bickering Coalition.
But voters will not forget that Labour opened the door to mass immigration. Or that strike-happy unions were richly rewarded for staying silent.
Having swung the Labour leadership for him, they now hold Red Ed in the palm of their hands.
By the time of the next General Election, the consequences of both these legacies will become clearer.
Immigration is a problem that simply won’t go away. Nor, as Gerry Adams once said of the IRA, will the trade union bullies.
- BORIS JOHNSON may or may not be Prime Minister one day but he certainly has the gift of cheering us up.
Andrew Marr did his best to cast gloom over the “gridlocked” Olympics, terror threats and the death of City bankers.
But nothing could douse our infectious ray of sunshine.
The Olympics are delivering “fantastic opportunities and long-term returns across London”, he enthused.
THAT’S the Olympic spirit for you.
www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/politics/article4444172.ece