ARE ASYLUM SEEKERS CAUSING UNEMPLOYMENT?
No. In fact few are even allowed to work. This is despite the fact that the UK’s working population is declining and that the education and health services are crying out for staff. The EU estimates that Europe needs 1.6 million new workers a year. AREN’T THEY TAKING CHEAP JOBS AND UNDERCUTTING WAGES? Some take casual work or jobs “off the books” – because of poverty and the ban on working. This means some are paid below the national minimum wage. If they were allowed to work legally, they would fall within the minimum wage and there would be no downward pressure on other workers’ pay. The same papers that blame them for undercutting wages, like the Express, the Mail and the Star, actually opposed the minimum wage in the first place and are always against trade unions fighting to improve workers’ pay and conditions. SURELY THERE’S NOT ENOUGH HOUSING TO GO ROUND? The shortage of affordable housing is a real problem in Britain, but it’s not caused by asylum seekers or migrants. It is cau
