‘Conservatives’ plan to cut immigration is outdated’

Britain needs more migrants to avoid “catastrophic consequences” on its economy post Brexit, a UK think tank said in its report on Friday.

Global Future analysed employment and related economic data for ‘The Case of Immigration’ report to conclude that the Conservative partyled government’s target of cutting net migration to the “tens of thousands” immediately or in the long-term is based on an outdated and backward looking view of policy.

“The UK is close to full employment, has an ageing population and low productivity growth. These factors make immigration an essential ingredient of a successful economy looking ahead,” the report said. “Global Future’s top-down economic view is that a net migration figure well in excess of 200,000 will be needed long into the future to avoid catastrophic consequences for the economy,” it added.

A separate analysis of different sectors of the economy reveals that structural and demographic changes mean that many are already on a labour shortage cliff-edge. This bottom-up view confirms that a net migration figure in excess of 200,000 will be needed to avoid collapse of whole sectors, as well as to alleviate the crisis in public services such as Social Care and the state-funded National Health Service (NHS), the think tank warned.

“We believe that at a time of full employment, the UK cannot ignore the benefits that immigration confers in terms of tackling chronically low productivity growth.”