'There ARE too many immigrants in the UK', say seven in 10 Britons

Seven in 10 Britons believe there are too many immigrants in the country, an Ipsos Mori poll showed.

Three in four agreed that immigration has placed too much pressure on public services while three in five agreed that it had made it harder for Britons to get jobs.

Just one in four thought immigration had been good for the economy, the survey of 1,000 people showed.


Fears: Seven in 10 Briton believe there are too many immigrants in the country and an even higher proportion believe they are having a negative impact on public services.


Prime Minister David Cameron has said he wants to cut net migration from the current 242,000 to the levels of the 1990s when the number of people coming to the UK was in the 'tens of thousands, rather than the hundreds of thousands'.


Ashish Prashar, of Ipsos Mori, said: 'Clearly, people in Britain are concerned how immigration is affecting their employment opportunities; the strain on public services; and impact on a sluggish economy.


'These concerns are also reflected in many countries around the world.'

Sir Andrew Green, chairman of campaign group MigrationWatch UK, said: 'This is further overwhelming evidence that the British public remain deeply concerned about immigration.


'Despite the efforts of the immigration lobby, three quarters believe that immigration is putting too much pressure on public services while only just over a quarter think immigration is good for the British economy.

'This poll is a timely reminder that the Government must keep its pledge to get immigration down to tens of thousands or pay a very heavy price with public opinion.'


The Global @dvisor survey of more than 17,000 people in 23 countries showed that only Russians (77 per cent) and Belgians (72 per cent) were more likely than Britons (71 per cent) to agree that there were too many immigrants in their country.



The Japanese were the happiest with their current level of immigration, with just 15% agreeing that there were too many immigrants in Japan.

Immigration Minister Damian Green said: 'For too long immigration was allowed to get out of control and we are taking action to reduce net migration back to the tens of thousands.

'In the past year we have introduced an annual limit on the number of non-European workers able to come to the UK and overhauled student visas. We are currently consulting on restricting settlement rights and the family route.'

Ukip leader Nigel Farage said: 'These findings show what real people care about and immigration has long been the elephant in the room for both this Government and the last.

'Nothing can be done to halt those arriving in the UK from other EU countries, which is a problem that should not be glossed over when you consider that David Cameron is keen for Turkey to join the EU, a country with a population of around 75 million.

'As for non-EU immigration, the existing controls in place are shambolic.'
He went on: 'We continue to advocate a five-year freeze on immigration in order to sort the current mess out, then a cap of 50,000 people a year.


'Our country is already buckling under the strain of its current population which is why we need to put effective measures in place now.'
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