Posted on 11/15/2007 2:11:55 PM PST by blam
Emigration soars as Britons desert the UK
By Philip Johnston, Home Affairs Editor
Last Updated: 6:56pm GMT 15/11/2007
Britain is experiencing the greatest exodus of its own nationals in recent history while immigration is at unprecedented levels, new figures show.
Last year, 207,000 British citizens - one every three minutes - left the country while 510,000 foreigners arrived to stay for a year or more.
The majority of people leaving the UK go to New Zealand, France, Spain or Australia
The British made up more than half of the 400,000 moving abroad - yet only 14 per cent of immigrants were UK nationals coming home.
The figures do not include hundreds of thousands of east Europeans who have come to work in Britain in the past two years.
This is because most are coming for less than 12 months and do not show up on the statistics.
The figures from the Office for National Statistics suggest that only one sixth of the immigrants in 2006 were from the states that joined the EU in 2004.
The biggest influx was from the New Commonwealth - India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka - with more than 200,000.
Since Labour came to power in 1997, 1.8m British people have left but only 979,000 have returned, Over the same period, 3.9m foreign nationals have come to Britain while 1.6m have left.
More than 50 per cent of the British emigrants moved to just four countries in 2006 - Australia, New Zealand, France and Spain. Eight in every 100 went to the USA.
The ONS said that overall last year there were 591,000 immigrants to the UK and 400,000 emigrants, both the highest figures ever recorded.
Net immigration - the difference between those leaving and arriving - was 191,000.
The departure of so many Britons is exacerbating the demographic and cultural changes caused by high levels of immigration.
Recent figures showed that despite high levels of emigration and a low birth rate, the population is still growing rapidly because of immigration.
It is growing by the equivalent to a city the size of Bristol every year.
Sir Andrew Green, chairman of Migrationwatch, said: "Two thirds of yet another record level of arrivals come from outside the EU. They could and should be subject to much tighter controls."
He added: ''This gives the lie to claims that nothing effective can be done about immigration because of our membership of the EU."
Damian Green, the Conservative spokesman, said: "These figures prove that immigration is still running at unsustainably high levels.
"This is the direct result of the Government's 'open door' approach which has totally failed to consider the impact of immigration on public services, housing and community cohesion."
Sir Simon Milton, chairman of the Local Government Association, said the Government had no clear idea of where all the immigrants were going and their impact on services.
"No-one has a real grasp of where or for how long migrants are settling so much-needed funding for local services isn't getting to the right places," he said.
"The speed and scale of migration combined with the shortcomings of official population figures is placing pressure on funding for services like children's services and housing.
''This can even lead to unnecessary tension and conflict."
While immigration is the highest in the country's history, the emigration of UK nationals is running at its greatest level since before the First World War.
Little research has been done into the reasons for the exodus of Britons, though it appears more are going abroad to retire though many younger people are leaving to work.
A study last year by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) suggested that one in 12 UK nationals may now be living abroad.
There are 250,000 second homes owned by British nationals in France alone.
Surveys indicate that another one million are set to pack their bags for good over the next five years and a further 500,000 live abroad for part of the year.
Danny Sriskandarajah, of the IPPR, said: "The UK is seeing revolving turnstiles and not over-run floodgates.
"More people are on the move than ever before, with a million emigrants and immigrants crossing our borders last year."
He added: "It is also clear that immigration is an economic phenomenon, with almost half of those immigrating and emigrating doing so for work-related reasons."
More British live abroad than any other nationality. There are 41 countries with more than 10,000 British living there and another 71 countries with more than 1,000.
The levels of emigration are now back to those last seen in the late-1950s and early 1960s, when the "£10 Poms" left in their droves for Australia, enticed by subsidised travel and settlement.
The last exodus on a similar scale was before 1914, when the outflow was running at 300,000 per annum and more young men were leaving the country every year than died on the battlefields of Europe.
Between 1853 and 1913, more than 13 million British citizens left, mainly for North America, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.
Some came back; but cumulative net emigration was equivalent to 13 per cent of the population, mostly those aged between 18 and 45.
However, there was little immigration then: the population grew because of a high birth rate.
The difference of around three million between the emigration of British nationals and immigration of foreigners represents a five per cent turnover of the entire population in ten years.
Previous immigrations did not exceed one per cent over fifty years. This turnaround in population has inevitably changed its ethnic composition.
Over the last 20 years, the white British population has decreased slightly while the number of ethnic minority Britons has doubled.
Looking ahead to the next 10 years, the white ethnic group will remain static while the number of Asian non-dependents alone will increase from 1.5 to 2.5 million.
Leaving a sinking ship. The smart leave in face of Islam, the brave stay and fight.
Yet another article proving what I said earlier about the current orwellian state of Britain driving out people who actually want freedom instead of 24-7 house arrest and surveillance.
Uncle Miltie must have chromosomal damage. I would imagine just about every immigrant knows exactly where to go and what services they want.
In this entire article about UK demographics, did I miss mention of Muslim immigration?
From England to Spain. Better learn how to talk Socialism in Spanish.
There is a distinction between being smart, and being brave.
Of the British subjects (not citizens, there is a difference) leaving Great Britain, what proportion are of “Other than White”, and what proportion are of ancestral Briton stock?
Only the most recent exodus. Been going on in a major way since 1620, probably even before that.
It must not be permitted to speculate on WHY the English are leaving England..
Could it be that the Turd World immigrants have reached a level to have literally changed the nation for the worse?
It’s the British (white) Brits leaving while it’s mainly Muslims coming to Britain. Obviously the latter causes the first.
Let’s see... no guns, soaring property crime, a lackadaisical attitude towards punishing criminals, restive immigrant populations, punitive tax rates, and a national health service that is in serious disrepair. Why would anyone want to leave?
I wonder how many are liberals fleeing what they helped cause
(just like the libs fleeing California and voting for the democrats in their new states)
Oh Britannia, Britannia rules...I mean sinks beneath the waves..of immigration.
Day is ended, dim my eyes,
But journey long before me lies.
Farewell, friends! I hear the call.
The ship’s beside the stony wall.
Foam is white and waves are grey;
beyond the sunset leads my way.
Foam is salt, the wind is free;
I hear the rising of the sea.
Farewell, friends! The sails are set,
the wind is east, the moorings fret.
Shadows long before me lie,
beneath the ever-bending sky,
but islands lie behind the Sun
that i shall raise ere all is done;
lands there are to west of West,
where night is quiet and sleep is rest.
Guided by the Lonely Star,
beyond the utmost harbour-bar,
I’ll find the heavens fair and free,
and beaches of the Starlit Sea.
Ship my ship! I seek the West,
and fields and mountains ever blest.
Farewell to Middle-earth at last.
I see the star above my mast!
Regarding France, it’s mainly retired Britons moving to the Bretagne part of Northern France. It’s their version of Florida retirement paradise. Same with Spain, where they are moving mainly to the sunny islands.
“Camp of the Saints” in slow motion.
Hey, thanks for that Tolkein poem! There was one Briton who would never have left.
R-E-T-I-R-E-M-E-N-T I-N T-H-E S-U-N
You know, like New Yorkers moving to Florida, or Midwesterners to Phoenix and San Diego.
Sounds like what people are doing to Califirnia.
Sorry California, better?
Yeah, now that you mention it, I can understand the attraction of retirement in a sunnier location.
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The US has the highest rate of population growth among developed countries--.89% annually, which is the equivalent of adding a Chicago every year.
And the cost of living is astronomical . Almost 3 pounds for a pint of bitter !
We have several former UK friends, who came here 1-2 decades ago. They saw the problems and left early.
They are all hard workers in their 50’s to 60’s. God loving/church goers, loyal to their families, friends and new country. All but one are Republicans, and she is becoming one with the events in London the last couple of years.
It took years for these productive people to become citizens, and they have zero tolerance for any illegal aliens here, demanding what took them years to get.
While the intellectually arrogant British political class sees anyone and anything other than themselves, their mindset and their policies as a cause, and you can see it in how every policy prescription to address the problem incites only increases in the problem. At present, British politicians are extremely concerned about offending Muslim “immigrants” but have no concern at all for offending Britons of British decent.
What makes you think the libs fleeing California now didn’t come to California from someplace else?
“The majority of people leaving the UK go to New Zealand, France, Spain or Australia.”
Good. We don’t need Brit socialists here. America culled most of the creative or entrepreneurial Brits out of England between 1700 and 1900. If there are any stragglers left, get your butts over to America now; there’s a place for you.
Thanks for the post and ping.
It’s too bad...it’s such a beautiful country.
However, I can understand why they are leaving.
Your statement is irrelevant since the US is usually not interesting for them anyway.
The weather is better, great scenery, and still close to home.
OTOH, some of the replies in this thread are reasons why we’ve lost a good deal of UK posters around here. A shame really.
SW France is crawling with Brits. It's almost as if the 1400's have returned (when England controlled the Aquitaine).
Seems they’re leaving the UK go to New Zealand, France, Spain or Australia.
Interesting that they’re not coming here.
Doesn't matter where they come from or whether they are liberals or conservatives.
Population growth is all that is needed to make a place shift to the left.
I’ve heard this before and it makes me sad each time. What’s Britain going to be without the British?
On a similar note:
Million whites leave SA - study
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1712536/posts
Good point. I've ragged on Britain before but it's only out of love since I feel a kinship with them because of a British mom. I'm sorry what is happening to Britain just as I'm sorry the way the U.S. is headed, but we do need to be careful what we say. Britain still has some good sensible folks left and some of them inhabit FR.
As long as they don’t come to the US with their socialist (Democrat) voting habits.
It's very difficult for a Briton to emigrate to the US. The main ways are via marriage or via a H1B visa, most of which are locked up by Indians.
Well that’s probably because Britons can’t apply for the Greencard lottery, not all are qualified to come here as workers, especially if retired, and not all have relatives who can get them here on chain immigration.
Immigration’s flip side
The British have always been susceptible to wanderlust, a trait that helped create an empire and has given the globe its common tongue. Even today, we remain the most dispersed nationality on the planet.
There are 41 countries where at least 10,000 Britons reside and a further 71 with British communities of more than 1,000 souls.
Yet, if emigration has been part of our way of life for centuries, it has rarely been on such a scale as today. New figures from the Office for National Statistics show that more than 200,000 UK citizens emigrated last year, the biggest outflow of nationals since before the First World War.
Why the exodus? There is little hard evidence, but much that is anecdotal, to account for the figure. There is the traditional lure of a better life, higher wages, lower living costs, more sunshine and, increasingly, the desire to make permanent the lifestyle enjoyed in a holiday home. Cheap air travel makes living in a distant land not quite the leap into the unknown that it was even a few decades ago.
Increasingly, too, people are leaving these shores not to earn money but to spend it – the number of retired Britons living overseas, where their pensions go further, appears to be climbing inexorably.
That’s the pull – what about the push? For it is also clear that people would not be departing on this scale if they did not find life in this country unsatisfactory. High taxes, intrusive government, unsafe streets, dirty hospitals, a coarseness of society that is squeezing out the old-fashioned virtues of courtesy and consideration – expats everywhere cite these aspects of life in modern Britain to justify their escape.
Yet none of these ills prevents this country remaining the most astonishing magnet for people. Last year, 510,000 foreigners came to live here, taking to 3.9 million the total since Labour came to power, the largest prolonged wave of immigration in our history.
It is when these two trends are set alongside each other that we see the profound implications. Put simply, as more and more UK nationals leave and more and more foreign nationals arrive, it is inevitable that the nature of this country, its society and its culture, will change.
Many will welcome the change and the diversity it brings. For centuries we have welcomed newcomers (though never on this scale) and they have contributed to the richness of British society and its wealth. But others will be alarmed by this “churn” of population, worried by its speed and scale and the way it is transforming our way of life.
These are big issues that are only now, belatedly, being addressed by politicians, notably by David Cameron with his call for a grown-up debate on population management. They have clear implications, too, for Gordon Brown’s quest to identify that elusive thing, Britishness.
Most of all, they should lead us all to question why, when we have never been more prosperous, so many Britons no longer find this country such an agreeable place in which to live.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2007/11/16/dl1601.xml
What is the green card lottery? Someone mentioned this to me Friday afternoon.
Green cards are the permanent US work and residence visas.
There are different classifications. Skilled workers, academics etc. can apply for them and if they are having needed skills they can come to the US easily. Additionaly to this there is a lottery each year, where 50000 applications, from millions coming from around the world, are drawn and if fulfilling several requirements they can apply for a permanent residence and work visa in the US. The idea behind this lottery is “diversity”, which means that each country has a special quota of applicants to be drawn. The State Department wants to balance the immigration coming from mainly Mexico, East Asia and India these days. Britons however are excluded from the lottery, because there are already many British origin Americans. French, Germans, Polish etc. however are permitted.
Okay, I know a lady from South Africa over here and she’s having immigration problems. She’s about to give up and head back to SA. She mentioned the green card lottery to me on Friday and before I could ask her about it, the conversation went somewhere else. Do you know if the South Africans are excluded or is just the British?
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