One World - One People 2

Further to my earlier blog , The Independent followed up with this story concerning the immigration from Eastern Europe . Most of the article was of statements by spokesmen of Big Business supporting the principle of the free mobility of labour within the European Union .
Strange bed-fellows for Socialists , indeed .

Immigration: The facts:-

600,000 people from eastern Europe have successfully applied for the right to work in the United Kingdom over the past two years. This means that they now account for 2 per cent of the country's 30 million strong workforce

62 per cent of the new workers have come from Poland

£2.54bn is contributed to the economy annually by eastern European immigrants in the UK

0.5-1 per cent of economic growth in the United Kingdom in 2005 and 2006 has been
contributed by migrants

70,000 migrant workers help with harvesting farms, according to the National Farmers Union

10 per cent of employees on Britain's building sites are from overseas - making a total labour force of up to 100,000 workers

80 per cent of new migrants are working people between the ages of 18 and 35. This offsets the tendency for the country's population to age, addressing the difficulties in providing for an ageing population. There is evidence that National Insurance contributions would have to be higher under lower migration scenarios

250,000 jobs a year are created by the UK economy. The economy continues to grow only because there is the population to carry such continued growth

31 per cent of doctors working in hospitals and general practices throughout the UK are migrants

13 per cent of nurses who are working in the UK were born abroad

12.5 cent of teaching staff working in schools across the UK are non-British

70 per cent of catering jobs in London are filled by migrant workers

13 per cent higher average wages earned by migrant workers (compared to workers who are not migrants) suggests that migrant workers are more highly skilled and more productive