Near-record UK immigration figures fuel raging EU debate

Britain gained 333,000 people through immigration in 2015

Good Lord!! Do they still speak "English" over there?

“We wouldn’t be where we are today in London with an isolationist approach,” he said.

You'd never hear a German say that. Then again there are many islamic mayors in Germany who have had ties with radicals.

The government have long been known to massage the data and release figures in tranches as it suits their political agenda. The real figures may be even higher.

Of course, a strong labour market is one version of why people move there; another is the extremely high benefits package that they receive, even when they do not work, which many do not. With low wages and zero hour contracts, there is often no incentive for people to get a job, as they'll get more on benefits.

The are a number of measures that flag the issue. The number active national insurance numbers. The Government must explain fully the relationship of Great Britains continued contributions/rebate and GB unfunded health care/benefit/state pension system.

Yep, the tide is turning and ‘Open Borders’ is losing popularity no matter where you are on the Atlantic.

Once again, the majority of the immigrants to the UK are from outside the EU. This is unlikely to change whether the UK is in or out of the EU. It is clear that Cameron has no intention of doing anything at all to limit immigration other than talking a lot of guff.

We have been fed misinformation and lies over the economics of this increase. You are supposed to benefit from such a boost in the labour force. The government has lied about the effect this is having on the health service and other public services. Instead of boosting the budget of public services to match the workforce (and in turn benefitting from the increase in tax income and consumer spending) the government use high immigration as an excuse for the failing public services. These services are failing because the government have slashed the public services budgets. Meanwhile they are happy to quietly take the increase in tax income and consumer spending.

330,000 immigrants in one year is reason for concern. It is like telling, or asking, ten medium sized cities in the UK to take in 33,000 new people from foreign countries. Every year. And let's be honest here. We are not talking Germans, French and Swiss flocking to my homeland. It is East Europeans who will work for less and collectively drag down the standard of living for those in the UK even though those immigrants may well be raising their own living standards comparative with where they came from.

Even if the UK stays in Europe there will inevitably be a major and possibly violent backlash to this rampant and uncontrolled immigration.

And let's be honest here. We are not talking Germans, French and Swiss flocking to my homeland. It is East Europeans who will work for less and collectively drag down the standard of living for those in the UK even though those immigrants may well be raising their own living standards comparative with where they came from.

Yes let's be honest here. Of the 333,000 immigrants as at December 2015, 47,000 were from the 'EU8' nations - 1st stage East Europe nations including Poland. And 58,000 from 'EU2' nations - Romania and Bulgaria. Compared to 79,000 of 'EU15' nations - your Germans, French and Swiss (who you claim would not be flocking to the UK). So despite the claim above, the "higher standard" Europeans number (79,000) was 75% of the "lower standard" European numbers (105,000).

In 2014 the 'higher standard' Europeans number was 86% of the 'lower standard' European immigrants.

The highest proportion of immigrants by far were the non-EU nations at 188,000. Now these nationalities have really strict rules on visa applications - minimum salaries/ no easy benefits/ very expensive visa costs.

Dont be fooled by gossip and right-wing scaremongering. The government is running down public services in the UK, not East Europeans.

Dont be fooled by gossip and right-wing scaremongering. The government is running down public services in the UK, not East Europeans.

Spot on.

As usual, the right wing (and the press that fans their flames) will blame anything and anyone other than taking responsibility for the mistakes that we British have made ourselves.

The British people are rightly angry that infrastructure is creaking in the UK, but it is still heaven compared to some countries. If it was really as bad as people make out, why then do so many people (from both inside and outside of the EU) flock there in the hundreds of thousands?

The real reason that infrastructure is failing is because of the failure of successive governments to invest properly in the UK and allocate tax revenue proportionally, to ensure that services adequately meet the needs of the population. The anger that the British people have is misguided.

Leaving the EU is not a silver bullet that will cure all of these issues. These problems will still exist in the UK if it leaves the EU and because of the economic hit that the UK will take, the government will be in an even worse position than it is right now and even less able to actually go around fixing these problems. The worrying thing is, that by leaving we will be giving a massive thumbs up to the right wing. With Britain's problems not being magically solved by leaving the EU (and arguably, much worse), who or what will the right wing start scapegoating after that?

It's a dangerous slide downwards if we leave the EU.

If you are British and have lived overseas for less than 15 years, you really need to register to vote by post or proxy to help stop this madness from happening. As it will affect you too - there was a debate on the BBC last night in Glasgow and one of the things the Leave campaigners were arguing was that the UK would require all EU citizens (and non-EU citizens) to get a visa for even a short-term visit to the UK, which means that other countries around the world would reciprocate and require British citizens to get a visa to make a short term visit.... So if you're living in Japan, you will need to get a visa before visiting Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines and many more.

It sounds mad - and it is - but they were arguing in favour of this. And these are the kinds of people who will get more political power as a result of a vote to leave!