After decades of unprecedented mass immigration, the economic facts are undeniable. Skill shortages have worsened. The overall labour shortage measured by total vacancies has doubled to a million. And far from boosting growth, the highest level of immigration in our history has been accompanied by our slowest productivity growth on record.
Yet, there has been a deafening silence about these failures. Employers and civil servants calling for more immigration are almost never asked: “Since it has failed, why do we need more? Isn’t doing the same thing and expecting a different result Einstein’s definition of madness?” Like quack doctors selling snake oil, they have taken the lack of visible results as an excuse to double the dose.