Blair aide: ‘We screwed up on immigration – 13,000 migrants became ONE MILLION’
ONE of the biggest mass immigrations in the history of the British Isles was solely down to a Blair government cock-up, a senior aide to the former prime minister has conceded.
Tony Blair simply failed to comprehend the significance of new EU rules which dramatically expanded the number of people who could settle in the UK, his ex-advisor claimed.
The former Prime Minister presided over some of the biggest influxes of immigrants in British history after the EU was expanded to include a further eight eastern European countries in 2004.
The Blair government assured voters the number of new arrivals from eastern Europe would be around 13,000.
However, the figure rapidly topped ONE MILLION as Poles and other workers from eastern Europe were wooed by higher wages and improved job prospects.
Sir Stephen Wall, the former-PM’s chief adviser on Europe, has spoken out, claiming the last administration followed poor advice.
Singling out ‘Polish plumbers’, he accused Mr Blair of playing “politics” with the immigration system.
We simply didn’t take account properly of the pull factor of England for people with skills
Britain’s ambassador to the European Union in the 1990s claimed the last Labour government was focused on maintaining influence in eastern Europe rather than protecting the UK’s borders.
The top diplomat said: “We simply didn’t take account properly of the pull factor of England for people with skills who could probably find a bigger market [in the UK] for their skills - you know, the Polish plumber.
“The primary argument was the political one – this was the right thing to do, we attached a lot of importance to them as democratic countries and keeping our position as the number one friend of eastern and central Europeans.”
Speaking last week, Mr Blair defended the immigration policies he pursued during his ten years in office.
He said: “I don’t agree it was a mistake.
"All we did was bring forward what would have happened anyway.
“In 2004 the economy was booming and we had a requirement for skilled workers from abroad.
“Supposing you put all those people from Eastern Europe back out of Britain again, would we be a stronger, better country?
"The answer is no.”
Last night, a leading migration watchdog questioned the lack of forward-thinking during the Blair years.
“It is astonishing that nobody properly considered the impact of the wage differential between Britain and a huge country like Poland,” Lord Green of Deddington, chairman of the Migration Watch campaign group, told the Mail.
"We said at the time the forecast of 13,000-a-year was almost worthless. In fact, it was completely worthless."
It also emerged that former Cabinet minister John Denham, who served under Mr Blair, wrote to chancellor Gordon Brown and home secretary Charles Clarke to warn the influx of new workers was having a significant impact on wages and the health service.
However, research by UCL published last year found European immigrants to the UK had paid more in taxes than they received in benefits.
Economists at the London university claimed European immigrants who arrived in the UK since 2000 have contributed more than £20bn to UK public finances between 2001 and 2011.
