Prime Minister Andy Burnham was dealt a blow as GB News Breakfast presenters Ellie Costello and Cameron Walker revealed that four out of five jobs went to migrant workers in the past decade.
Debate on long-term solutions
Debating the issue with political commentator Sebastian Salek and Assistant Editor at the Spectator Madeline Grant, it was pointed out that the government needs to start thinking of long-term solutions rather than plugging short-term gaps. Grant said: "It does show that there's been an element where immigration has been used to paper over cracks...and it does underscore the extent to which immigration reduction has to go hand in hand with welfare reform. I feel like many employers and the government generally have been kind of playing on easy mode and just going for the more immigration button, rather than looking at the actual problems that we face in our society," she observed.
Walker pointed out: "...Iain Duncan Smith, who of course is the founder of the Centre for Social Justice, which did this report [is] saying that successive governments, Conservative and Labour, have turned to immigration too easily instead of improving the prospects for left-behind communities."
Skill deficit concerns
Salek interjected: "We talk about left behind communities. If you're bringing someone over on a work visa, they're earning over 41k. So these are well-paid jobs and these are skilled jobs. So let's not muddle those two things. But if we can't find people to fill those jobs in the UK, we have a skill deficit. We need to be able to train people to do these jobs. So there is a bigger problem here."
Grant, however, explained a key issue with bringing workers into the country. "Where it gets more complicated is that if people are also bringing family members, it does become potentially a long-term financial burden for the state," she remarked.
Long-term financial burden
She continued: "Even if one member of the family is earning above the average wage, they may still prove a financial liability in the long term. And that's why I think, you know, there has to be a shift from viewing things only in terms of the next few years and thinking about the next few decades. Because our pension liabilities are looking pretty dangerous as it is, and one day these people will themselves age and require a pension."
Costello then shared a statement on the issue from the government. It read: "The vast majority of this country's workforce is made up of UK nationals, and we've introduced a number of changes, including a new skills-based migration system to put British workers first and welcome the highest skilled talent that our economy needs.
"We are reforming the welfare system by creating almost a million work opportunities for young people through our youth guarantee, while investing £3.5 billion to help disabled people and those with long term health conditions move closer to the labour market."
Centre for Social Justice analysis
Just one in five jobs added to payrolls between 2014 and the end of last year went to British nationals, according to the major new report that warns of Britons being "written off" by the welfare system.
An analysis by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) found British nationals accounted for only 734,000 of the 3.7 million additional payroll jobs created during this period. EU nationals held 408,000 of the positions. The number held by non-EU nationals went up by about 2.5 million. Meanwhile, CSJ warned that annual spending on working-age benefits has increased by £50 billion in real terms since 2019-20.
The think tank argues "successive governments have relied on low-skill migration to fill jobs". It claims that between January 2020 and December 2025, the number of payroll jobs held by British nationals fell in nine of the UK's 12 nations and regions, but those held by non-EU nationals "increased in every one".
