Monday, April 7, 2008

Over 80% of British people say the country is facing a crisis over immigration

Even the British seem to be waking up to the dangers of immigration:

Immigration is diluting our culture and leading to the breakdown of society, according to the vast majority of Britons.

83 per cent told pollsters the country had a "population crisis".

Strikingly, this view was held by 58 per cent of settled migrants and their British-born children.

Most of those interviewed felt that special treatment for newcomers was causing locals to "lose out."

The same views were shared across the social classes.

The survey for Immigration: The Inconvenient Truth, an investigation by Channel 4's Dispatches, was carried out by YouGov.

It found that 15 per cent of Britons would halt immigration altogether and 84 per cent would reduce it. 63 per cent of settled Commonwealth immigrants agreed with them.

Two-thirds of those polled believe that migrant workers are undercutting native workers and taking their jobs. Immigration is also considered by the British to be the biggest factor behind societal breakdown over the past decade.

Some 58 per cent think the nation's cultural fabric is being "damaged and diluted" by immigration.

Last night, the Government's critics said the case for a cap on migrant numbers - a move resisted by Gordon Brown - was overwhelming.

Damian Green, Tory immigration spokesman, said: "We have been saying for some years now that the rate of net immigration should be substantially lower.

"That's why we called for an explicit annual limit - and without that the Government will continue to have a crisis on their hands."

Sir Andrew Green, chairman of Migration Watch UK, a pressure group, said: "This is stunning confirmation that the public want to see firm and effective action to reduce the scale of immigration. It is a view shared by two-thirds of previous immigrants.

"The Government cannot remain in denial much longer."

The findings on community relations will be equally alarming for ministers who are finally moving away from the doctrine of multiculturalism.

James Slack in the Daily Mail

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