Write to Your MP

Subject: Bring back sensible border control now

Dear [MP],

As a law-abiding citizen and taxpayer, I worry about the impact of the failure of the government to tighten control of immigration as they promised they would.

This is hurting communities like ours which are already under unsustainable pressure. Mass, uncontrolled immigration puts huge strains on housing and public services and enables employers to keep down the wages of the lowest paid.

Immigration is (directly and indirectly) behind over 80% of the growth in our population which is quickly closing on 70 million. England is already twice as crowded as Germany and more than three times as crowded as France.

Immigration also accounts for one out of every two additional homes needed in England - so the failure to exert proper border control means more and more precious green spaces being bulldozed.

The government was elected in 2019 on the back of clear promises to exert newfound control over immigration and also to bring it down. Instead of delivering reductions, the government has done the opposite. Immigration has gone up since Brexit instead of down, with a record 1.1 million visas issued for people to come and live in the UK in the year to June 2022.

Meanwhile, the system has been vastly loosened to enable employers to bring in as many workers as they like from all over the world without even advertising in the UK first. It is very concerning that the annual cap on work permits has also been abolished. Without a cap, there can be no real control.

We also have had vast increases in backdoor, chain migration by dependants and record level of refugee resettlement (which never exceeded 10,000 between 2005 and 2020 but stood at an astounding 230,000 in the year to June 2022). This at time when, as the former Home Secretary admitted last year, ‘we do not have the infrastructure or accommodation’.

My firm view is that employers should do more to raise wages and improve working conditions in order to attract British people into jobs rather than relying on cheaper labour from overseas.

Voters notice that something is going very badly wrong on immigration. According to polling organisation YouGov, a majority say immigration has been too high over the past decade and more than 7 in 10 say that the government is handling immigration poorly (including 79% of Conservative voters. Immigration is the 2nd most important issue for Conservative voters after the economy - nearly 1 in 2 naming it as the top concern.

I’m also concerned about serious breaches of our borders that seem to be happening with small boats crossing the Channel every other day and the large number of failed asylum claimants and immigration offenders, including serious criminals - who are being allowed to disappear into the community.

Unfortunately, immigration enforcement has been seriously weakened over recent years. This must be reversed. We need more investment in border security, more robust leadership for hardworking personnel, tighter measures to prevent absconding and more removals of those who have no right to be here.

It is time for the government to deliver on its promises to control and reduce immigration. The public have been ignored for much too long.

Please do all you can to raise these issues and make the case for immigration control to be seriously tightened.

Subject: The scale of migrants crossing the Channel

Dear [MP],

I was very concerned to learn that the government is reportedly preparing to stop the publication of daily figures revealing the number of migrants crossing the Channel.

Reported arrivals of people by boat from Northern France and Belgium rose from just under 300 in 2018 to 28,400 in 2021 and are continuing to increase further in 2022 (see this Channel Tracking Station).

Censoring data on daily reported arrivals would amount to hiding the truth from the public.

It would make it harder to hold the government to account on behalf of tens of millions of people who are anxious about our uncontrolled borders.

In the midst of the Channel boat scandal, the share of the public who think the government is handling immigration poorly rose by an astounding 38 percentage points since March 2020 and, in mid-January 2022, was at 76% (including over three-quarters of the government’s own voters!) - see YouGov poll

It’s no wonder Ministers and senior officials would be keen to hide the truth on Channel crossings.

But they must put the brakes on this plan.

It is the role of MPs to act as a check on government.

So I am writing to respectfully ask you to use your voice in the Parliament to object to this move.

Hiding data on the reported daily total of migrants crossing the Channel by boat could encourage disinformation and would spur an even greater crisis of confidence in border control.

Yours sincerely