To the many

Recent letters have debated the causes and the rate of population growth in the UK.

The Office for National Statistics provides useful figures and graphs on its website. The accompanying text reads: “Natural change has seen an increase in the population but the main driver of the growing population, particularly since the 1990s, can be attributed to net migration.”

The graphs show a steady increase in net migration since the UK accepted the EU

open-doors policy in 2001. The text reads: ”In 2015, levels of immigration (631,000) were more than double those of emigration (298,000). The highest immigration levels to date were seen in 2014 with 632,000 people coming to the UK. Rises in immigration have tended to coincide with the expansion of the EU, allowing more people to freely migrate to the UK.”

The 2001 census recorded the population as just under 59 million. UK population is now estimated at 65.6 million. This means that the UK has been trying to provide jobs, accommodation, welfare and public services for a population increase of 6 million people, which explains why overload and insufficient capacity have become major issues.

By contrast, the population of Germany, according to Index Mundi, decreased from 82 million to 81 million between 2001 and 2014. Refugees, of whom Germany accepted nearly a million, are not included because they are considered to be transient and will probably return to their home country at some point. The EU open-doors policy has not affected Germany as it did the UK.

The EU was intransigent when David Cameron asked for a brake on mass migration across Europe. He was told it was a ‘fundamental freedom’, or in other words, a point of dogma. The EU position would have made sense if all the member states had been affected in the same way, but that was clearly not the case. In the face of such intransigence and indifference to the UK’S problems, naturally the people of the UK voted to leave the EU. Breaking free after 40 years of EU membership is a tough process, but fortunately the EU is not the only show in town.

LES REID Morton Street, Edinburgh