The price of immigration: Report states migrants cost UK taxpayers £22m each DAY for 17 years

Migration Watch UK claims immigrants have cost taxpayers a total of £140 billion between 1995 and 2011.

16:42 13 March 2014

Migration Watch UK have recently released a report claiming that immigrants have cost UK taxpayers more than £22 million a day for 17 years.

The report followed the findings of research conducted by Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration, which claimed that immigrants had made substantial contribution to public finances since 2000 and those from the EU had contributed 34% more in taxes than they had received in benefits.

However, Migration Watch UK said that CREAM’s report had unrealistic assumptions such as suggestions that European Economic Area (EEA) migrants are only half as likely to claim benefits or tax credits – something it claimed was highly misleading. It added that the findings about the contributions made by EEA migrants are “simply wrong.”

"In fact, on less unreasonable assumptions, there was no positive fiscal impact at all from the recent EEA migrant group singled out... for their 'very positive contribution'," it states. "Indeed, migration to the UK continues to have a significant fiscal cost, and recent migrants made no difference to the upward trend."

Sir Andrew Green, chairman of Migration Watch UK, said: "Our report finally disposes of the immigration lobby's oft-repeated claims that immigration reduces our tax burden.

"The total cost is high and increased dramatically between 1995 and 2011, providing no compensation for the overcrowding of this island which we are experiencing, largely as a result of immigration.”