The unemployed construction workers I deal with as part of my work are quite convinced that immigration hasn't helped their job prospects.

@Fraziel1 -I think that if you speak to normal people about their views on issues like immigration outside of the incompetent politics of westminster and their loyal journalists - you will soon discover that most of the general public do have their heads screwed on and can generally have a good dose of common sense - certainly more than the permanent political class that leads them. However, the political classes (Tory/Labour/LibDem - take your pick) have a very restrictive perspective of life - they have never experienced the real world and most have been parachuted into politics from an isolated privilege life far removed from normal everyday lives of 99% of the people out there. The political class must then rely on organisations like this to provide statistics and research for them on issues such as immigration. Predictably, most of the research done is just politically biased tosh and unfortunately this cr@p dressed as 'research' influences government policy which then leads to ill-informed and disastrous decision making (ie mass uncontrolled immigration). I seriously think that if we want to see common sense again in british politics then the electorate must wake up to this exclusive and unrepresentative type of politics and begin throwing out the entire political class. Until that day arrives we should expect more out-of-touch politicans making cr@p decisions based on research thats based on bollox!

The left (of which I am a part) has a serious problem with immigration and the working classes. This is because the political class has become completely divorced from normal people - they are all Oxbridge economics / politics graduates.

The same could be said on minimum wage, benefits, pensions, children's services, care for the elderly. The political left proposes solutions so close to those put forward by the right that millions of people feel alienated from the whole process and disenfranchised.

Now the only people who vote in large numbers are those who fought for democracy more than half a century ago. And they are just voting for the choice between losing half their winter fuel allowance, or losing it all!

It's hard to see a way out for us really, the system entrenches itself. There are good people in politics but they are few and far between.

@weyland

Absolute Cr@p. They get a refund if they're due one (i.e paid too much tax)...the same as YOU would! They don't automatically get it all back.

Matt Cavanagh writes: "the fact that MigrationWatch focus on the change in the two variables across the whole period. This makes the numbers look at least vaguely similar. But what happens if you look in slightly more detail within the chosen period? If MigrationWatch's hypothesis was right, you would expect to see the steepest increase(s) in youth unemployment at the same time as, or shortly after, the big increase(s) in immigration."

These are the facts:

1. A8 migration only began after May 2004
2. In the three year period before this - 2002 to 2004 - youth unemployment increased by 15,000
3. Between 2004 and 2006 there was net long term immigration from the A8 of 156,000 - most of these were disproportionately young, motivated, prepared to work for low wages etc.
4. In the same period youth unemployment jumped by a whopping 96,000 - over six times the rate of increase before A8 migration started.

The conclusionm is obvious: Matt Cavanagh's rebuttal of the Migrationwatch work doesn't have a leg to stand on.

@David
Yes or No, Was Nationalism and Ethnicity used as a Pre text for the Horrific actions that followed in those countries?, What seems Illogical to most Humans (which i presume we all are), are the actions we are capable of towards each other if given the means and so called justification?, Obviously, nothing like that would ever happen in this country!, and everyone who questions immigration aren`t "Racist" but, there are Cranks!, who`d have no problem with those Horrific actions!!, the only difference is we as a country would never allow these Cranks to have positions of power?.
If this country never had one "Foreigner" in it, the Daily Heil, Express, and The Scum, would still find someone to Hate, Blame, and Persecute!, 'in print', for all the problems in this country?, We`re all still entitled to have an opinion!, that`s mine.

What are the figures? I don't believe immigration causes youth unemployment especially. However, I've seen many of what i would call the lower paid, minimum wage jobs, that i did in my yoof, such as cafe and bar work, shop work etc taken up by immigrants. I have no statistics. Just that whereas the joke used to be you were served by some spotty teenager in Mcdonalds, now it seems many have foreign acccents and it seems are recent immigrants.

When i've been unemployed and looked to agency work, it is now very competitive, due to a ready made, excellent immigrant work force. My sister employs some brilliant polish staff in her restaurant business. They were simply best for the job. Is that turning away British born youths? I don't know. Obviously immigrants are tax payers and consumers themselves in the economy. However, i do feel that there is far more choice to employers with some very able and skilled workers coming from the eu, prepared to work for the minimum wage.

This cuts out the need of expense for training and apprentiships for employers.

I'm not sure this is the same with higher paid jobs. But we certainly employ much needed foreign trained nurses in the nhs. We used to have nursing training in the uk.

So, i think the uk youth are being failed by being bypassed by employers because they are not given enough skills and training perhaps.

I watched a really interesting, but scary, documentary on Nat Geographic last week!, it was called "'Apocalypse' The Rise Of Hitler", anyone who watched it would of seen the Orchestrated campaign, and Propaganda against certain groups!, Goebells blamed all the ills of the country on these groups!, constantly, until the ignorant masses believed what they were told!!, The rest is History?. Even as recently as the 90s, in a modern Yugoslavia!, We saw what Nationalistic Idiots could get people to believe!, and more horrifically!, what people were prepared to do, all in the name of Nationalism??, I believe some idiots on the Far Right would blame Cancer on immigration, if they thought they could get away with it!!, Of course every country has to have a Limit on immigration, and this includes our Emigrants!, But, to blame Everything on immigration, is very lazy, and ignorant!!, and as we`ve seen in the past, it can be very Dangerous??.

BigC..

It easy to go back and return as someone new.. So easy you actually don';t return you just come over with several IDs. Been done for years. The Irish did it back in the 40/50s. Sadly English guys cannot do it. The left have enslaved the working class.

What, may I ask, is responsible scaremongering. Presumably Michael Meacher's 1000 rambling words on how dreadful it will be for us outside the benevolent EU.

We need some immigration, of course we do but the 250000 per year net immigration figure is alarming for anyone who does not want their wages driven down, as we now know has happened due to immigration levels as well as making it harder for British people to get jobs in an already harsh jobs market.

It is also a concern if you object to people coming here from the other side of the world to claim asylum when they could have gone to any one of a number of countries far nearer to home rather than the UK. They don't though and it is obvious why. Benefits and the NHS which adds hundreds of millions to an already atronomical benefits and NHS bill. Not to mention that many immigrants never work and put anything back into the country.

lastly, the effect on peoples communities. Anyone fancy a visit to Govanhill in Glasgow ( to name but one area)to see how immigratiom has blighted and devastated the community? I personally know 3 people who have had to move house due to their lives being made a round the clock misery by immigrants who refused to make any effort to respect the culture of the communities they have joined. I have experienced it myself and it was stressful,depressing and at times frightening.

We need to cap immigration, have far stricter entry rules and reject all asylum applications from people who could have claimed asylum in countries far closer to home.

Some might say its right wing, i just see it as putting your own countrys people first and plain old common sense.