I voted Brexit to control immigration. I have just seen HMRC numbers that show not only is it not being curtailed, but it is actually exploding to the point where over the last five years more Indians and Nigerians have filled new jobs than British nationals.
Sit down with a coffee and a double helping of blood pressure tablets then think about this; Of the 1.5million jobs created since before the pandemic 488,000 were filled by Indians, 279,000 from Nigeria but only 257,000 by UK citizens.
The shocking data came from HMRC and was uncovered thanks to good work by Neil O’Brien, a Tory MP. Yes, there is still one. The suggestion is that many of those jobs would have been filled by EU citizens and Brits had it not been for Brexit.
While the percentage of jobs held by non-EU nationals has increased from 7% in 2019 to more than 11% at the end of last year, the number of EU nationals employed here fell from 8.6% to 7.5%.
If you add the 200,000 Channel migrants that have arrived here illegally over the last five years (they could have been sent back to France under the ‘’safe country’’ protocol) you can see that Brexit for people like me, my vote has backfired.
And the problem lies at the door of Boris Johnson when he was Prime Minister in 2021. His Cabinet agreed to lower the salary threshold for non-EU migrants from £30,000 to £26,500 while reducing the required skill levels from degree to A-level.
Ministers also relaxed migration rules to fill gaps in the economy, like care workers, and then allowed them to bring in huge numbers of dependents. The whole thing was a racket. The rules have now been tightened but the damage has been done.
You don’t have to be a genius to work out that many firms would be delighted at the influx as they would be paying less to Indian workers than they would to EU employees.
The stats are eye-watering. The number of jobs held by Nigerians has risen by 206%, Indian nationals by 126% and Bangladeshi nationals by 86%. Much of this can be laid at the door of Brexit.
Clearly the country is changing in job opportunities for UK nationals. Douglas Murray in the Spectator looked at jobs and benefits picture of towns hit by the latest riots compared to the last explosion of violence in 2011.
In Sunderalnd in 2011 the proportion on out of work benefits (including incapacity benefits) in Sunderland was 18%; today it’s 19%. In 2011, the jobless figure in Rotherham was 16%. Today its 18%. In Hartlepool it was 21%. Today 23%.
Is it any wonder there were problems in these towns? If you look at the towns where there were riots there is not one of them in which the job situation has improved in the last 13 years.
You can be sure that when Labour sets up an inquiry it will all be blamed on social media. There will be no mention of a lack of opportunities for the locals.
Labour said it wants to reduce net migration but at the same time wants growth. It can’t be done. If you create jobs, somebody must fill them. The next five years are going to be a nightmare.