By IRNA
London : A parliamentary report Tuesday called for the number of workers entering the UK from outside the EU to be limited, saying that the economic benefits of migration had been overstated.
The House of Lords economic affairs committee reject the economic case the British government has made for migration, concluding that high net immigration has had little effect on income per head in the resident population.
The government “should have an explicit target range” for immigration and set rules to keep within that limit, the committee said in a report on the economic impact of immigration.
But Immigration Minister Liam Byrne rejected the demands to set a cap on the numbers, saying the government’s new points-based system was a better solution to control non-EU migration.
“Migrants pay more into the economy than they take out,” Byrne said.
Immigration had been good for the economy because it had increased productivity, employment and wages, which had translated into a net benefit on GDP per capita, he told the BBC.
The report comes at a time of heightened sensitivity over immigration at a time of growing worries over the health of country’s economy.
The added problem for the government is that it cannot limit the number of people seeking work from east European countries that have recently joined the EU, which have been far greater than predicted.
The report warned that if record net immigration of 190,000 people per year continued over the next 20 years, it would contribute a 10 per cent increase in house prices.
“The available evidence suggests that immigration has had a small negative impact on the lowest-paid workers in the UK and a small positive impact on the earnings of higher-paid workers,” it said.