Open borders costs UK 30 billion pounds a year

Open borders is economically very expensive for the UK. An economic analyst, Bob Lyddon, has authored a report which shows that the 3 million EU migrants in the UK cost the government £10,500 per head, at a total cost of £31.5 billion per year. Of these migrants, 1 million aren't in work and the other 2 million are mostly in low paid jobs and contribute on average only £500 each in taxes, which adds up to a revenue of only £1 billion per year. The UK Government is losing more than £30 billion a year through the immigration programme.

So who benefits? The multinationals do:

[Lyddon] argues that the EU freedom of establishment rule combined with freedom of movement means “tax efficient” multinationals can flood the UK with cheap foreign labour but avoid paying money to the Treasury such as corporation tax.

In a damning indictment he says that the UK taxpayer is subsidising low paid jobs for foreign workers.

UKIP responded to the report as follows:

Ukip pointed out that the report comes just days after Brexit Secretary David Davis said mass EU immigration could continue for many years after the UK leaves the EU.

The party’s immigration spokesman John Bickley said: “Bob Lyddon's damning report blows apart the myth perpetuated by the established Parties that EU migration benefits the UK economy.

“Uncontrolled cheap labour from the EU benefits big business at the expense of landing ordinary taxpayers with a whopping and unsustainable pensions bill.”