Wednesday, March 05, 2014
A bad day for good news?
Given the obsession of the Tory Party with immigration and their refusal to relax regulations where it is obvious that an economic advantage can be gained, I am not surprised by this story on the BBC which suggests that aa particularly inconvenient report has beeen suppressed.
The BBC say that Downing Street has withheld publication of a cross-governmental report that suggests one potential impact of immigration is smaller than claimed.
They say that it suggests "displacement", the number of UK workers unemployed as a consequence of immigration, is well below the figure used by ministers of 23 for every 100 additional immigrants. This conclusion was considered potentially incendiary by Government spin doctors:
The work, an extension of that MAC research, estimates that the cost to existing British workers of new arrivals is much lower.
However, the figure it suggests for the displacement of British workers has not been disclosed.
Officials say the prime minister's team has prevented publication of the report, which has been ready since last year, to avoid igniting controversy.
But Downing Street sources told the BBC the report had not yet been completed and was not ready to be released.
They insisted it would be published "in due course", and the BBC's chief political correspondent Norman Smith says he understands this could be within days.
Statistics released last week suggest the government is unlikely to meet its pledge to reduce net immigration to below 100,000 people a year by 2015.
Vince Cable is no doubt feeling vindicated by this report.
The BBC say that Downing Street has withheld publication of a cross-governmental report that suggests one potential impact of immigration is smaller than claimed.
They say that it suggests "displacement", the number of UK workers unemployed as a consequence of immigration, is well below the figure used by ministers of 23 for every 100 additional immigrants. This conclusion was considered potentially incendiary by Government spin doctors:
The work, an extension of that MAC research, estimates that the cost to existing British workers of new arrivals is much lower.
However, the figure it suggests for the displacement of British workers has not been disclosed.
Officials say the prime minister's team has prevented publication of the report, which has been ready since last year, to avoid igniting controversy.
But Downing Street sources told the BBC the report had not yet been completed and was not ready to be released.
They insisted it would be published "in due course", and the BBC's chief political correspondent Norman Smith says he understands this could be within days.
Statistics released last week suggest the government is unlikely to meet its pledge to reduce net immigration to below 100,000 people a year by 2015.
Vince Cable is no doubt feeling vindicated by this report.
