May’s bluster won’t stop immigrants
Home Secretary Theresa May last week wrote in The Mail on Sunday about limiting immigration from European Union countries. Despite Mrs May’s bluster, the only way to stop permanent unrestricted immigration from the rest of the EU is to leave it.
Sean Gallagher, Erdington, Birmingham Vince Cable and his cronies may welcome the recent increase in net migration, but will they be around in 30 years to suffer the consequences? We are only a small island and we already have 65million people. And Britain is actually diminishing due to our sea defences being unable to hold back the forces of climate change.
The UK does not have the infrastructure or the capacity to support increases in net migration. We have an ageing population and the demands on the NHS, schools and other public services are at breaking point. The few benefits will be far outweighed by the fact that we will eventually sink under our own weight.
Steve Jennings, Moseley, Birmingham Mr Cable shouldn’t be chastised for praising our economy. He was talking about net immigration – the balance of people coming in against those leaving. In the past Britain has suffered from a ‘brain drain’. With the economy getting back on track, it is looking as if our most talented people would rather stay here than leave.
J. McLean, Manchester Immigration has been based on two factors – the need for workers and humanitarian reasons. Today we have enough legal immigrants from within the EU to provide all the manpower we need for the foreseeable future. But there is mass illegal immigration which is being exploited by trafficking gangs. This is unsustainable if we want to retain a semblance of national identity.
A clear message needs to be sent to many countries, some now richer than European states, in Africa and Asia, that their citizens will not be allowed to remain in Europe. Each country has to take responsibility for its own citizens.
Peter Fieldman, Madrid In your news report about Theresa May’s piece, you say that the number of Romanians and Bulgarians here is likely to rise because of the lifting of our border controls on them on January 1. But is there any evidence of this? I can’t say I’ve noticed any hordes of South-East Europeans sweeping in, and I live in an area that they have seemed to favour. Is it possible that last year’s panic about Romanians and Bulgarians was misplaced?
B. James, London