Rhian,

Don't just read the executive summary of the House of Lords Report. The very small per capita benefit masks some real harm to some very vulnerable people. For example

"72. Most of our witnesses agreed that there is some negative effect of immigration on the wages of low-skilled workers. However, there were disagreements over the extent of the effects and the amount of evidence. Professor Blanchflower said there was “some evidence” to suggest that A8 workers have lowered wage increases amongst the least skilled “but the effects are not enormous” (Q 318). The Institute of Directors argued that the effect on wage growth has “probably been limited”.39 The City of London Corporation was the most pessimistic about the impact on the low-paid. It concluded that the concentration of immigrants in low-paid jobs in the capital had led to “significant downward pressure on wages at the bottom end of the market”. While this had encouraged growth in the number of these jobs, earnings among workers in this sector ended up “falling behind growth in the cost of living” (p 427). Professor Nickell suggested that homecare staff and cleaners were among those whose pay was adversely affected by immigration (Q 37).

"73. Even if immigrants are not competing directly for the same jobs in many cases, they may still have a strong indirect effect in depressing wages for resident workers.Professor Blanchflower found that wage growth slowed in both the UK and Ireland following A8 accession although both economies were booming. He attributed this to a rise in the fear of unemployment caused by high immigration, which in turn leads to lower wage settlements (p 196)."

"93. Our recent report on apprenticeship and skills argued that the Government was not doing enough to develop high quality apprenticeships.46 Although the evidence is limited, there is a clear danger that immigration has some adverse impact on training opportunities and apprenticeships offered to British workers."

'morning byork,

Sorry I missed your post. Perhaps because it's inellectual content was even lower than the number of words.

You say; << spindoc, no-one drowns if the borders are open.>>

I say ; << byork, no-one drowns now the borders are closed >>

It's called critical thinking

spindoc, every single drowning occurred because desperate people hired unscrupulous people smugglers who benefited from successive Australian governments' restrictive refugee policies. Clive Palmer once remarked that we should fly them in, and he actually made sense on that. For a significant financial cost, the Coalition government is successfully stopping the flow but is also responsible for great inhumanity to these people who end up trapped in appalling conditions elsewhere rather than being given the opportunity to a better life, and the prospect of making a contribution, here.

Desperate my foot byork. The only thing they are desperate for is to rip off our welfare. That's why 85% are still on welfare 5 years after arrival.

They are obviously fleeing for their lives, when as soon as they have residency, they are back off home to get a wife or two, to add to our welfare bill,

I wish you people would get real. Blathering the same garbage year after year gets very boring to listen to.