The British and the Spanish might have marked differences in their attitudes to immigration, but both countries' economies have prospered on the back of foreign-born workers, the FT/Harris poll on migration reveals.
After decades as the "sick man of Europe", Britain ended its relative decline in the 1980s. More recently it has grown consistently faster than the other 14 countries that made up the European Union until May 2004 when 10 new - mostly eastern European - members joined the bloc.
The UK economy will have expanded by 2.7 per cent a year between 1998 and 2007, compared with 2 per cent for the eurozone as a whole, according to estimates from the International Monetary Fund. Net immigration rose sharply to 150,000 a year in 1998 and surged after 2004 as Britain allowed nationals from the new EU member states to work without restriction.
See full Article (paid subscription required).
Posts
