Almost two-thirds of Britons are still concerned about their country’s high levels of immigration, citing pressure on the National Health Service (NHS) and schools as especially worrying.
Deltapoll research commissioned by the Migration Watch UK think tank found that some 65 per cent of Britons “agree that recent levels of overseas net migration to the UK are a source of major concern for the public”, compared to just 22 per cent who think is not.
A majority of supporters of the Conservative Party, opposition Labour Party, and even the left-progressive Liberal Democrats which the Labour Party would likely have to rely on to form a government in the event of a hung parliament after national elections in December, all told pollsters immigration was a cause of “substantial concern”.
The majority among Conservative supporters was 75 per cent, among Labour supporters 62 per cent, and among Lib Dem voters 53 per cent.
By region, 65 per cent of respondents even in the hyper-diverse, multicultural capital of London said immigration levels were a cause for concern
So did 60 per cent of respondents in Scotland, where the regional government is led by a left-separatist Scottish National Party (SNP) which claims to need “more migration to our country, not less” to replace a “native population [which] is declining”.
Among Brits who voted to Leave the European Union in 2016, a massive 81 per cent said immigration was a cause for public concern — but so did a majority of Remain supporters (52 per cent), as well as voters in the 18-24-year-old demographic (53 per cent) which the mainstream media has generally presented as having a near-universally positive view of open borders.
“Increasingly in recent months we have heard from politicians and those who benefit from high levels of immigration that the public is no longer concerned about this. This is simply not true,” commented Alp Mehmet, Chairman of Migration Watch UK, in a press release received by Breitbart London.
“The Deltapoll findings both pour ice cold water on the claim and show how grossly out of touch the politicians are with the voters. Will either of the two principal aspirants for the keys to Number 10 have the courage to commit to giving the public what it wants, a substantial reduction in immigration? I have my doubts.”
While the Labour Party led by 70-year-old socialist Jeremy Corbyn voted to retain Free Movement immigration from the European Union and extend it globally at its annual conference — and to shut down detention centres and give the vote to non-citizens as well — the governing Conservative Party has at least claimed to be interested in bringing immigration under control.
The party pledged to reduce the net inflow from “the hundreds of thousands of thousands to the tens of thousands” ahead of the 2010, 2015, and 2017 general elections, but has failed completely, with non-EU immigration — which is almost entirely under national control — having risen to near-record levels in the latest statistics.
Former Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne revealed that senior Tories “[never supported] the pledge in private and all would be glad to see the back of [it]” in 2017, openly admitting that the government “could” have reduced non-EU immigration but chose not to.
Current prime minister and Tory leader Boris Johnson has now dropped the “tens of thousands” pledge, refused to commit to an annual cap on immigration, and even hinted that he will give an amnesty to illegal aliens — which he long-advocated in former roles as Mayor of London and as Foreign Secretary in Theresa May’s Cabinet.