A senior official at the Government’s fiscal watchdog has warned that immigration is creating ‘serious problems’ for public services and living standards.
David Miles, an executive at the Office for Budget Responsibility and a former Bank of England economist, said Labour must focus on getting unemployed Britons back to work in order to slash welfare spending and the UK’s ‘explosive’ debt pile.
He added that spending on overseas workers to boost economic growth is unsustainable because they also rely on services such as schools and the NHS, according to The Telegraph.
‘Immigration - which primarily involves those of working age who are many years away from retirement - both delays the impact of the ageing of the population and is the driver of population growth,’ Mr Miles said.
‘Some conclude from this that a faster rise in the population... will be beneficial in alleviating acute underlying fiscal pressures.
