UK's Ex-Chancellor: Mass immigration brings economic benefits is a myth

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN ON MASS IMMIGRATION
By NORMAN LAMONT
PUBLISHED: 01:20, 18 June 2014 | UPDATED: 07:53, 18 June 2014

For years, those who dared question the policy of mass immigration — including this newspaper — were shouted down as reactionary or plain racist. But this week, a major new survey was published that revealed a dramatic hardening of attitudes by the British people as a whole towards immigration. The sheer scale of immigration is having a dramatic effect on the size of our population, which in turn is increasing the burden on our infrastructure. Even now, our civic infrastructure is badly over-stretched, as reflected in the pressure on GP practices, transport, housing and schools.

A 2008 inquiry by the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee (of which I was a member) found no evidence for the argument that immigration generates significant economic benefits for the British public. In fact, the Government’s Migration Advisory Committee recently showed that any economic gains from higher immigration go mainly to the immigrants themselves, not to the wider population.

Yet some politicians continue to argue — that mass immigration brings enormous economic benefits to Britain, and that we tighten borders at our peril. In judging the case for or against immigration, what really matters is not the size of the economy, but the impact on the living standards of the existing population. While it is almost inevitable that a significant increase in the population will lead to an expansion in the economy, that does no good for individual citizens unless it is accompanied by an improvement in the prosperity of each individual.

Norman Stewart Hughson Lamont, Baron Lamont of Lerwick, PC served as Chancellor of the Exchequer, from 1990 until 1993. He was created a life peer in 1998.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/ar...hear-them.html

He could have been writing about Singapore here. Looks like every country faces the same issue regarding mass immigration. Is it time for PAP government to follow it's western counterparts and reverse the open door mass immigration policy?


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