Last week, we learned that the recorded population of the UK now exceeds 60 million, due in part to net inward migration in 2005 of 235,000, the greatest since records began.
The increase in immigrant numbers stems from the expansion of the EU in 2004, when ten nations, mostly from Eastern Europe, joined what used to be called the Common Market. Unlike France and Germany, Britain imposed no limitation on immigration from the East. The consequence has been a huge influx of people, the greatest ever known in this country.
Whether or not this is a good thing is a matter of intense controversy. Some argue that the newcomers bring with them valuable skills that are in short supply; certainly, in London most plumbers and painters now seem to be Polish. Others say that the UK’s social, medical and educational infrastructures cannot cope with immigration on such a massive scale and that we simply haven’t a large enough housing stock.
Next year, the EU will probably be further expanded through the accession of Bulgaria and Romania, two of the poorest countries in Europe, many of whose nationals will undoubtedly seek what they perceive to be a better life in Britain. Bulgaria’s accession, in particular, is already causing concern. Bulgaria has a highly active criminal mafia and earlier this year a senior European police officer, Klaus Jansen, reported to the European Commission that an increase in criminality would be the inevitable consequence of unchecked immigration from that country.
“Once Bulgarians set up communities abroad the mafia will come with them, and their mafia is really brutal,” he said.
Another aspect of the problem of imported criminality was highlighted last year by the case of Josef Kurek, a Polish immigrant who was found guilty of rape in Swansea Crown Court. It later emerged that Kurek had previously been convicted of rape in Poland. In Britain, a person convicted of rape would have been place on the register of sex offenders and would have been required to report his movements to the police. However, when I raised the issue in Parliament, I was told by Home Office minister, Paul Goggins, that there was no pan-European system for tracking convicted sex offenders, so the British police had no means of knowing that Kurek was a dangerous man.
In June, the European Commission announced plans to establish such a system and to share more information between national police forces. That is clearly welcome, but the system won’t be in place for some time yet.
Whatever the merits or otherwise of large-scale immigration, there is a strong argument for a breather to take stock of its impact on Britain, and certainly nobody wants to import criminality.
The Government must therefore urgently consider whether unlimited immigration to the UK from Bulgaria and Romania should be allowed and in any event should carry out proper checks on the criminal records of all potential immigrants to this country.
The increase in immigrant numbers stems from the expansion of the EU in 2004, when ten nations, mostly from Eastern Europe, joined what used to be called the Common Market. Unlike France and Germany, Britain imposed no limitation on immigration from the East. The consequence has been a huge influx of people, the greatest ever known in this country.
Whether or not this is a good thing is a matter of intense controversy. Some argue that the newcomers bring with them valuable skills that are in short supply; certainly, in London most plumbers and painters now seem to be Polish. Others say that the UK’s social, medical and educational infrastructures cannot cope with immigration on such a massive scale and that we simply haven’t a large enough housing stock.
Next year, the EU will probably be further expanded through the accession of Bulgaria and Romania, two of the poorest countries in Europe, many of whose nationals will undoubtedly seek what they perceive to be a better life in Britain. Bulgaria’s accession, in particular, is already causing concern. Bulgaria has a highly active criminal mafia and earlier this year a senior European police officer, Klaus Jansen, reported to the European Commission that an increase in criminality would be the inevitable consequence of unchecked immigration from that country.
“Once Bulgarians set up communities abroad the mafia will come with them, and their mafia is really brutal,” he said.
Another aspect of the problem of imported criminality was highlighted last year by the case of Josef Kurek, a Polish immigrant who was found guilty of rape in Swansea Crown Court. It later emerged that Kurek had previously been convicted of rape in Poland. In Britain, a person convicted of rape would have been place on the register of sex offenders and would have been required to report his movements to the police. However, when I raised the issue in Parliament, I was told by Home Office minister, Paul Goggins, that there was no pan-European system for tracking convicted sex offenders, so the British police had no means of knowing that Kurek was a dangerous man.
In June, the European Commission announced plans to establish such a system and to share more information between national police forces. That is clearly welcome, but the system won’t be in place for some time yet.
Whatever the merits or otherwise of large-scale immigration, there is a strong argument for a breather to take stock of its impact on Britain, and certainly nobody wants to import criminality.
The Government must therefore urgently consider whether unlimited immigration to the UK from Bulgaria and Romania should be allowed and in any event should carry out proper checks on the criminal records of all potential immigrants to this country.
