Get ready. The wave of migrants crossing Europe will only grow in number as more and more head for the UK to start a new life. This warning was made Tuesday night by newly elected Conservative MP Matt Warman who said the government “failed” to plan for a mass transfer of migrants, putting an “unprecedented” level of pressure on public services from police to the NHS.
The Boston and Skegness representative told Parliament that “tens of thousands” of people have moved from countries such as Poland and Lithuania to work in his constituency. The Daily Express reports he said: “We did not plan and we did not predict their arrival and so we were not able to invest adequately and in a timely fashion in the services we now urgently need.”
In comments that directly echo those of UKIP leader Nigel Farage during the general election campaign and before, Warburton also warned that the UK’s relationship with the EU needs to change “fundamentally” to fix issues in areas where migrants have settled. He said:
“Figures released last week showed the influx of foreigners over those years [1997 to 2010] was at the rate of one a minute.
“No country on Earth could possibly cope with such an influx and, sadly, if you visit some inner-city schools or hospitals or study the housing lists you’ll see how this country hasn’t.”
Last month the Migration Statistics Quarterly Report revealed the scale of the challenge facing ministers in reducing levels of legal immigration by highlighting a net migration rise the size of the population of Coventry.
The figures measure the difference between the numbers of people moving to the UK for a year or more and those leaving the UK for a year or more in the calendar year 2014. They show:
641,000 people moved to the UK over the period, with 323,000 going the other way
284,000 people immigrated for work, a 70,000 increase
The number of Romanian and Bulgarians moving to the UK doubled to 46,000 in 2014
Employment of non-British EU nationals in the UK in January to March 2015 was 283,000 higher than the previous year
The Conservatives pledged before the 2010 election to reduce numbers to less than 100,000, a target they acknowledge they have failed to meet. Steven Woolfe, UKIP’s migration spokesman, was not surprised. He told Breitbart London:
“Welcome to the club Matt. The club of people, like the UKIP candidate in your constituency, who understood all this before the election.
“Unfortunately you, like the Prime Minister, still don’t quite get it. It is impossible for governments like yours to plan for the EU immigrant influx you refer to because it is mass, uncontrolled and the authorities have no idea how many EU citizens are planning to move here.
“Unless we control the free movement of people, your demands, like David Cameron’s are just a pipe dream.”