With Brexit, A Lot Seems To Be Grounded In Immigration

Matt Vespa | June 25, 2016 9:30 AM

If there’s one thing that’s going to be discussed about the recent Brexit referendum, it’s immigration. The UK voted to leave the European Union last Thursday—and many Britons have had it with their inability to govern themselves as a sovereign nation. One man explicitly said he voted to stop the flow of immigration; he didn’t’ care about Europe or trade deals. Some were concerned about jobs, while others noted the pernicious system in which un-elected bureaucrats stuck their beaks into how the UK governs its affairs. One woman said what’s the point passing any sort of laws in the UK, when Brussels will change them.

Yet, immigration seems to be a huge issue, where many think that the massive influx of immigrants has placed an enormous strain on the country’s welfare state (via Daily Signal):

Stephen Booth, the co-director of Open Europe, a nonpartisan think tank based in London and Brussels, said that of the roughly 5 million net immigrants to the United Kingdom between 1990 and 2014, over three-quarters came from outside Europe.

But immigration from the European Union now makes up nearly half of the United Kingdom’s net inflow, Booth said. The combination of European Union expansion in 2004 and 2007—which brought in poorer countries like Bulgaria, Romania, and Poland—and the Eurozone economic crisis has influenced substantial internal immigration to Britain and its relatively strong economy.

Proponents of immigration say it has grown the British economy, increased tax revenue, and attracted skilled workers. But critics say immigration has overwhelmed Britain’s public resources, and changed Britain’s culture and values.

In a letter to the UK-based Guardian, Richard Mountford of Tonbridge, Kent said that this Brexit vote was a protest against mass immigration flow:

Britain voted to leave the EU in the month we learned that last year’s net migration to the UK was a record 335,000 people (UK population grew by half a million last year, 24 June). The vote was a protest against mass immigration and the linked issues of stagnant wages and rising rents. The EU needs to respond urgently by offering the UK (and any other member state that wants it) an opt-out from the free movement of people. This would address the main reason for the vote to leave, and make it perfectly legitimate for the UK government to offer a second referendum, rather than rush to start the exit process. An opt-out would also assuage anti-EU sentiments in several other EU countries

After the votes were counted, Britain voted 52/48 to leave the EU. UK Prime Minister David Cameron bet the mortgage by backing the “Remain” camp. He lost everything. He announced his resignation the morning after the vote. A new prime minister is projected to be installed sometime in October. Cameron is going to remain prime minister in a caretaker role.