Reveal true migrant numbers, PM is told
Cabinet minister warns that Britain’s public services are ‘creaking at the seams’
DAVID CAMERON must release figures that show the true number of European Union migrants living in Britain, a Cabinet minister says today as he warns that public services are “creaking at the seams”.
John Whittingdale, the Culture Secretary, says in an interview with The
Daily Telegraph that it is a matter of “great concern” that hundreds of thousands more migrants could be living in Britain than official figures suggest.
Mr Whittingdale, who is a Eurosceptic and backs Brexit, says that the Prime Minister’s EU deal will do little to limit the numbers of EU migrants, arguing that Britain is a “small country” that “cannot go on having an enormous influx over which we have no control”.
In the interview he challenges the Prime Minister to release details on the number of active national insurance numbers being used by EU migrants.
Official figures suggest that 257,000 EU migrants came to Britain last year, but over the same period 630,000 EU citizens registered for a national insurance number.
Over the past five years 2.25 million EU nationals have registered for a national insurance number but according to the ONS one million EU citizens arrived in the country over the same period.
Mr Cameron this week refused a request to release the figures, claiming that the difference is accounted for by short-term migrants.
Mr Whittingdale is the first Cabinet minister to raise concerns about the accuracy of official migration statistics.
He says: “There is already enormous concern on the basis of the numbers that are published. The suggestion that they may understate the position is a cause for even greater concern.
“I have heard the reasons why national insurance numbers don’t neces- sarily reflect actual levels, but at the very least that’s a debate which we need to have and I can see no reason why we can’t have the figures.”
He said the influx was putting pressure “on all of the public services – housing, education, health. It is creaking at the seams. There is a very strong feeling that this is a small country and we simply cannot go on having an enormous influx over which we have no control.”
Mr Whittingdale intervened as two former chairmen of the Conservative Party raised doubts about whether Mr Cameron could stay on as Prime Minister after a Brexit.
Lord Tebbit, who served in several Cabinet positions under Margaret Thatcher, said it would be “extraordinarily difficult” for him to stay on after his “silly” warnings about Brexit risks.
Liam Fox, the Eurosceptic Tory MP and former defence secretary, said that while Mr Cameron was “constitutionally” entitled to stay on as Prime Minister there was a risk that relationships could “sour”.
They made the comments after Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary, said “desperate and unsubstantiated claims” by pro-EU ministers risked damaging their integrity.
Figures from Eurostat, the European Commission’s statistics agency, show the number of asylum seekers coming to Britain increased by almost 20 per cent in a year.
The UK received 38,370 people – more than 15 other EU nations combined – last year.
Richard Harrington, a Home Office minister, said Britain was powerless to deport thousands of illegal migrants because they have nowhere to go.
An Ipsos MORI poll showed that immigration is the public’s top concern with regards to EU membership.
When John Whittingdale became a Conservative MP in 1992, he faced an immediate dilemma: should he rebel against John Major and the Government over the Maastricht Treaty?
As he considered his decision he sought the advice of his former boss, Margaret Thatcher, whom he served as political secretary before entering Parliament.
“She was very clear – because I still obviously saw a lot of her – that she was completely opposed and urged me and others to do so,” he said.
Today Mr Whittingdale is the Culture Secretary and one of six Cabinet ministers making the case for Britain to leave the EU.
He said that had the late Baroness Thatcher still been alive, it is likely that she would have voted in favour of a Brexit.
“There is no question that she felt that already far too much power had been given away from Westminster and she completely opposed the suggestion that the European Union would evolve into a political union.
“I wouldn’t like to say that she would definitely vote ‘no’ but if the choice were between the present arrangement, even after the Prime Minister’s renegotiation, and Out, I think the likelihood is that she would have voted Out.” Mr Whittingdale spoke to The Daily
Telegraph on the day François Hollande, the French president, signalled he was ready to move the border with Britain back to Dover from Calais in the event of a Brexit.
The Culture Secretary said that British voters would not be “bullied” by foreign leaders into voting to stay in the EU. “Ultimately I think it may well prove counter-productive. This is a decision for the British people.
“I don’t think the British people like leaders of other countries trying to bully them into doing something. All of these things are part of a campaign to try and scare people into staying within.
“I have absolutely no doubt, in the same way we were told there would be all sorts of horrendous consequences if we didn’t join the euro, this country is perfectly capable of thriving outside.”
Mr Whittingdale is relishing the debate in the run-up to the first EU referendum for 41 years. “For me it has always been about sovereignty. I have the leaflet which was delivered through every door in 1975 which said this is about jobs, investment and free trade and there are no consequences for sovereignty.
“That changed not long afterwards with the introduction of qualified majority voting which established the principle that the British Parliament could be overruled. Ever since that time there has been a steady drift of powers away from Westminster towards Europe.”
He is scathing about the Prime Minister’s EU deal, which he said would do little to reduce net migration to below his target of 100,000 a year.
“It [the deal] doesn’t really address any of the key problems. One of the issues at the heart of this is the debate around migration.
“The Conservative Party was elected on a very clear undertaking that we would reduce the level of migration down to tens of thousands.
“The Prime Minister has been arguing that the reforms to benefit entitlements will reduce the pull factor, but even the benefit reforms that he has obtained are considerably less than he initially set out to achieve.”
He is particularly concerned about the impact that the huge levels of migration have had on Britain’s schools, hospitals and housing.
He said: “The massive influx that has occurred as a result particularly of the expansion of the EU is putting pressure on all of the public services – housing, education, health.
“It is creaking at the seams. There is a very strong feeling that this is a small country and we simply cannot go on having an enormous influx over which we have no control. It’s things like waiting lists for hospitals, eligibility for social housing, places in schools – whether you get your first choice.”
Mr Whittingdale is particularly troubled about the accuracy of Britain’s official migration statistics. Official figures suggest that 257,000 EU migrants came to Britain last year, but over the same period 630,000 EU citizens registered for a national insurance number.
In the past five years 2.25 million EU nationals have registered for a national insurance number, but according to the ONS just one million have arrived in the country.
Experts said that the “massive” disparity cannot be explained by the difference in the way the figures are recorded, and that voters “deserve to have the facts and data”.
However, David Cameron this week refused a request to release the figures despite demands from Conservative Eurosceptics. Mr Whittingdale said that the figures were of “great concern” and must be released.
“There is already enormous concern on the basis of the numbers that are published. The suggestion that they may understate the position is a cause for even greater concern.
“I have heard the reasons why national insurance numbers don’t necessarily reflect actual levels, but at the very least that’s a debate which we need to have, and I can see no reasons why we can’t have the figures. I am a supporter of the Government’s principle of transparency. These are figures that the public care about very strongly.”
He warned that Britain had “lost control” on migration, and that many of the hundreds of thousands of migrants travelling to Europe could eventually gain EU passports and come to this country.
He said: “Migration is an aspect where we have lost control. It is a good example of how Parliament is no longer able to determine something as critical as who we allow to come into our country or who we choose not to.
“I do think that the sight of large numbers of people seeking entry into the European Union is something of profound concern for people.
“Even though we are outside Schengen, there is a view that once they are in Europe, sooner or later they will make their way towards Germany or possibly this country. In due course they may be given right of abode in Europe and there will come a time when we are not able to have any control over whether or not they are able to come here.”
In his role as Culture Secretary, Mr Whittingdale has begun talks with the BBC and other broadcasters about television debates on the referendum. He is keen to follow the example of the last election, where the party leaders were questioned separately rather than holding head-to-head discussions.
“There clearly needs to be proper debate about the issues. One of the things that is striking is the number of people who don’t feel they have all the facts,” he said. “I think perhaps the arrangement that emerged from the last election was better than the one before. It worked.
“I was not necessarily a great fan of the 2010 set piece debate. But that is to some extent a decision for the broadcasters. Already the broadcasters are thinking about Question Time- type programmes of the type we did hear in the last election.”
‘The benefit reforms the Prime Minister obtained are considerably less than he initially set out to achieve’