Eumigrantspay £20Bnmoreintax Thantheyreceive
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Wednesday 5 November 2014 ★★★ FINANCIAL TIMES 3 NATIONAL Immigration Net fiscal contribution of native population and immigrants Contribution to government revenues vs cost of government expenditures, by group (ratio) 2.0 EU migrants pay EU pre-2004 1.8 1.6 £20bn more in tax 1.4 Ten 2004 EU accession countries 1.2 than they receive Non-EU 1.0 0.8 Natives 0.6 Academics find UK-born countries such as Poland, the Czech 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia and Immigrants population represents =all arrivals Fiscal years Lithuania – contributed 12 per cent since 2000 a net cost to the economy more than they received. Professor Christian Dustmann, direc- Differential in claiming benefits or living in social housing HELEN WARRELL – tor of UCL’s Centre for Research and By immigrant group, more/less likely than native population, 2001-11 (% points) PUBLIC POLICY CORRESPONDENT Analysis of Migration, said the current Claiming state benefits or tax credits Living in social housing debatewasvery“anecdotallybased”. European immigrants to the UK have “Certainly there is abuse but what is All immigrants From 2004 From pre- From paid significantly more in taxes than important from the perspective of the accession 2004 EU non-EU 5 they received in benefits over the last UK government are the numbers which countries decade, making a positive net fiscal con- we have presented here, these are the 0 tribution of £20bn. realities,” he said. “When we look at the -5 The new research by academics at overall population coming from the -10 University College London comes at a countries of the former central and east- time of fierce debate over freedom of ernEuropeanareas...there is clearly a -15 movement within the EU. Responding net fiscal benefit. These guys pay more -20 to fears among Conservative Euro-scep- in than what they take out.” -25 tics that EU migrants are “benefit tour- The research indicates EU migrants ists”, David Cameron has pledged to are significantly younger than the aver- Benefits - individuals, adjusted for age and gender difference from native population renegotiate the rules allowing workers age UK-born resident and also more Hard stare: political graffiti in Bristol pays homage to Paddington, the Social housing - households, adjusted for age and region of residence Source: Dustmann & Frattini - The Fiscal Effects of Immigration to the UK (Economic Journal, 2014) to move within the bloc. But Angela likely to have a degree. Prof Dustmann fictional bear from ‘darkest Peru’– Phil Wills/Alamy Merkel, the German chancellor, is said Britain was a “special case” because reported to have warned him that any it tended to attract far more skilled move to reform these rights will lead immigrants than other EU countries. A Britain towards the EU exit. previous study found that Polish immi- The arguments look set to intensify grants to the UK had much higher levels now that UCL researchers have estab- ofeducationthanthoseinGermany. lished that so-called A10 migrants from UCL researchers estimated European eastern European countries that joined immigrants have provided “productive the EU in 2004 contributed nearly £5bn human capital” which would have cost to the UK in the decade to 2011. Those theUKgovernment£6.8bnineducation from the original 15 EU members spendinginthedecadeto2011. brought a net gain of £15bn over the However, researchers calculated that same period. By comparison, the UK- between 1995 and 2011 non-EU bornpopulationwasanetcost. migrants were a net cost of £118bn, The analysis showed that EU 15 compared with the net gain of £4bn by migrants contributed 64 per cent more EU migrants over the same timescale, in taxes to the UK than they received in partly due to the higher numbers of chil- benefits, and the A10 group – from dren and lower employment rate. Concern at arrivals migrants respectively were students. Recent polls by Ipsos Mori have Migrants more likely to placed immigration at the top of work than UK-born voters’ concerns, reflected in the growing support for the anti-EU UK Migrants from the EU have a lower Independence party. rate of unemployment than the UK- David Cameron, the prime minister, born population, according to an is looking at ways to reduce analysis of 2011 census data published immigration from EU states, including by the Office for National Statistics a proposal to deport EU migrants who yesterday. are unable to support themselves However, both had a higher rate of financially after three months. employment than migrants from The analysis also revealed outside the EU, who make up over differences between long-term UK two-thirds of England and Wales’ residents and more recent arrivals. non-UK-born population, about 4.2m A greater proportion of recent out of 6m. migrants are highly qualified but Polish people were the most likely to despite this they were less likely to be be in work: 81 per cent were employed economically active or working in compared with 69 per cent of the UK- high-skilled jobs, compared with those born population. The lowest who had spent longer in Britain. employment rate was for Chinese and Half of England and Wales’s foreign- Bangladeshi migrants, although 76 per born population arrived in the 10 years cent and 40 per cent of those before the 2011. Gavin Jackson Home Office Baker’s exit reflects growing coalition strains as poll nears ELIZABETH RIGBY AND HELEN WARRELL Lib Dem. “We are determined to see it through to the end.” When Norman Baker was deployed to But spats are likely to increase in the the Home Office last year, he was under run-up to the poll, said Akash Paun, fel- no illusion on how tough the brief low at the Institute for Government. would be; working in Theresa May’s “The first two years of coalition is about department was akin to being working together,” he said. “It’s logical “droppedbehindenemylines”. in the later stages of coalition that both After 13 months in hostile territory, Mr sides emphasise their differences. Par- Baker decided this week that enough ties increasingly focus on the election was enough. “It has been particularly and developing and setting out their challenging being the only Lib Dem in policiesfortheelection.” the Home Office,” he wrote to Nick The Lib Dems sought to close down Clegg, the party leader, in his resigna- the row yesterday, with Lynne Feather- tion letter. stone, Mr Baker’s replacement, pointing “The difficulty is [Ms May] believes out she had “always had a very con- she is running a Conservative depart- structive relationship with Theresa ment for a Conservative government May” during her time as a Home Office and the Liberal Democrats were there minister in the early days of coalition. by default, and that did not make for But Mr Baker is not a lone voice. His crit- goodrelations,”hesaidyesterday. This is the first time in the four-and-a- half years of the coalition that a minister Another battle: has resigned citing impossible working Norman Baker will defend a majority conditions. It is perhaps unsurprising of a little more the rupture occurred in the Home than 7,000 at the Office, where policy divergences – on general election immigration, police “snooping” powers and liberalising drugs laws – are at their icisms reflect more general concerns most extreme. that Ms May runs the Home Office like a As Mr Baker pointed out in his resig- fortress department, largely cut off nation letter, the lack of goodwill from from the rest of Whitehall. There have Ms May and her colleagues was in “stark been tensions between the home secre- contrast” to his three-year ministerial tary and Vince Cable, business secre- tenureattheDepartmentforTransport. tary, over immigration policy. Relations While Mr Baker’s departure clearly withDowningStreetarealsocool. signals an overflowing of political ten- But colleagues also said the Lib Dem sions as the general election MP’s decision to step down was not approaches, figures on both sides caused just by his weariness of fighting denied a wider breakdown of co-opera- Tory superiors. Mr Baker has a majority tion. “There is no question of this being of a little more than 7,000 in his Lewes the beginning of the unravelling of the seat and working to defend that over the coalition or a deliberate attempt to next six months will be a battle of undermine the coalition,” said a senior another kind..