Radio 4 - 'More or less' on the cost of immigrants and native Britons

[Tringa]

The excellent More or Less programme has been mentioned before. The last edition had some interesting figures on the the above.

Between 1995 and 2011,


Each European immigrant put in about £6,000 more into the public purse than they took out.


Non-European immigrant each took out about, £21,000 more than they put in.


Taken together the European and non European immigrants each took out about £14,000 more than they put in.


For the same period native Britons each took out £11,000 more than they put in.


The programme is still available at - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03qfzgx

and also has articles on the effects of two large glasses of wine on the risks of getting mouth cancer and how Roger Federer may be the worst player in the world.

Dave

 

[Ricardodaforce]

So we should be doing more to attract more immigrants from the EU.
Always a thorny subject is immigration.

 

[neil_g]

I've got nothing against the hard working ones. Seem to be more of them than British scrotes that don't want to work.

(I'm putting my sweepstake on 2 pages before a lock by the way)

 

[Cobra]

I
(I'm putting my sweepstake on 2 pages before a lock by the way)

My moneys on 4 posts

Just kidding, but keep it "real" guys

 

[srichards]

I wonder how much difference the 4 million Brits that live abroad make to the uk economy?

 

[Gary Coyle]

So we should be doing more to attract more immigrants from the EU.

Yes, but only if we offset that by booting out some native Britons, been on the JK show, then you're out.

 

[nilagin]

I doubt that I've taken out anything since I started work in 79, so some British people have taken a hell of a lot since 95

 

[donut]

i found the bit about the tennis interesting ,,,i always thought if you won more points you won the match ,,,nope not always ,,listen from 20 minutes to hear why .

 

[Forbiddenbiker]

So frustrating, I just want to know if I can blame someone else for the state we're in?

NOT.

 

[Yves Geza]

So frustrating, I just want to know if I can blame someone else for the state we're in?

NOT.

Well according to the programme makers, eleven grand of it is your fault! So come on, tell us what you did with the money YOU "took out of the public purse"?

 

[Forbiddenbiker]

Well according to the programme makers, eleven grand of it is your fault! So come on, tell us what you did with the money YOU "took out of the public purse"?

Well if was a fact, and not sentimental bah sheep conjecture. I spent my wedge on two Pieces of Eight and the last grand on a ticket to Northern Europe to rent a safety deposit box to bury them in. On the premiss that, the pirates over their can at least be honest about being pirates.

 

[Forbiddenbiker]

So John, did you mean that to go somewhere? ....What did you do with yours then?

 

[JonathanRyan]

Well according to the programme makers, eleven grand of it is your fault! So come on, tell us what you did with the money YOU "took out of the public purse"?

Um education, NHS and defence are probably the biggest expenses. Plus frivolous things like emptying the bins and gritting the roads (some of that is centrally funded, right?)

One explanation I heard a while back is that many people assume "European immigrants" means either Eastern European criminal gangs or Polish plumbers depending on their political persuasion. In fact a significant number of them are German engineers and Swiss bankers (they tend to fiddle with the definition of "European" depending how they want the numbers to stack up.) And some of these "contribute" so much to the economy that they can effectively cancel out a much larger number of plumbers/crimos.

 

[Yves Geza]

So John, did you mean that to go somewhere? ....What did you do with yours then?

Well in my case I met this bloke in London, I think I was there on a TP Meet, and he told me that Saddam Hussein had frightening weapons he could launch against Britain and kill people in half an hour but if I gave him my money he could invade Iraq and protect me ... and that was just the start of it!!

Um education, NHS and defence are probably the biggest expenses. Plus frivolous things like emptying the bins and gritting the roads (some of that is centrally funded, right?)

One explanation I heard a while back is that many people assume "European immigrants" means either Eastern European criminal gangs or Polish plumbers depending on their political persuasion. In fact a significant number of them are German engineers and Swiss bankers (they tend to fiddle with the definition of "European" depending how they want the numbers to stack up.) And some of these "contribute" so much to the economy that they can effectively cancel out a much larger number of plumbers/crimos.

In reality, I have some idea how much tax "I" paid into the public purse between 1995 and 2011 and I'm pretty certain "I" didn't receive £11,000 more benefit [not benefits!] from it in that time. I suppose what the researchers behind the programme have publicised is essentially that the "New Labour" experiment was badly uncosted in Government!

It is also a pity if immigration did add £3000 per head to the total debt though Jonathan Ryan is absolutely right - at the moment ultra-rich Parisians are preferring to contribute to the British public purse than the currently more expensive French one. I suppose it makes up for when the Borough of Kensington and Chelsea bought the Dordogne thirty years ago!