Calculations made by the Conservative Party, using figures from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) and the Bank of England, project that mass migration could cost UK workers a total of £89.8 billion in suppressed wages over the next five years. The projections are based on OBR forecasts that net migration will total 1.4 million between 2026 and 2031, and Bank of England figures suggesting a 10% rise in the immigrant-to-native ratio equates to a 0.93% average wage reduction.
The average worker would be around £2,500 worse off as increased competition in the job market slows wage growth, the analysis indicates. Average annual earnings would drop from a baseline of £38,220 to £35,699 by the start of the next decade.
Shadow home secretary urges Government to act
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp told the Daily Mail: "High immigration has real consequences across our whole society, and British people feel [that] indirectly in how much they earn. Labour have opened the door without any plan to deal with the consequences. The next Conservative government will introduce a binding annual cap, close the loopholes that let temporary visa holders stay indefinitely, tighten the conditions for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), and extend the period required. Sadly, Labour don't have the backbone to do any of this."
Ceuta border incident
The intervention comes amid growing fears about the impact of mass migration in Europe after tens of thousands of people breached the frontier between Spain's North African territory of Ceuta and neighbouring Morocco this week.
At least 67 migrants died, including some who were killed in a stampede to cross a breakwater barrier, before Spain installed a 1,600-foot barrier on the border on Saturday.
EU leaders demand co-ordinated response
The leaders of 22 European Union countries called for a co-ordinated response to the situation, warning it risked creating "the perception that illegal entry to the EU is possible and that a migrant's illegal entry can turn into legal stay".
Signatories including Italy, Denmark, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Greece and Poland cautioned Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez that "such a perception would encourage further attempts, undermine confidence in our common migration policy and have repercussions for all member states".
Italian premier Giorgia Meloni also threatened to suspend Italy's open-border Schengen agreement with Spain and said Italy was reimposing border controls for people arriving from Spain by air and sea.
