David Nuttall MP raises Commonwealth Immigration in Parliament

David Nuttall, the Conservative MP for Bury North, has raised the issue of Commonwealth Immigration in Parliament. Speaking during Home Office questions, he said:

"Our membership of the European Union brings with it a right to free movement into this country for people from other EU countries, and that brings with it a feeling that our friends in Commonwealth countries are being completely discriminated against."

He raises a very important issue. No matter at what level you think net immigration to the UK should be, it is clear that Commonwealth citizens are currently getting a raw deal.

For example, immigration from South Africa has fallen from 28,000 in 2002 to only 5,000 in 2012. EU immigration has more than doubled to 182,000 in the same period.

In other areas the collapse is even clearer. Immigration from the Indian sub-continent fell by over 50,000 in a single year 2011-12 dropping to just 69,000. This is in spite of the fact that the region is home to more than three times the population of the EU.

All of this and more will be covered in our upcoming report "How to Solve a Problem like a Visa - the unhappy state of Commonwealth migration in the UK." It will highlight how Commonwealth immigration has dropped dramatically in recent years and will propose six key measures to remedy this situation.

The report will be launched on 3rd November. There will be an event in Parliament on the morning of 3rd November to launch the report. More details are available on the Facebook event (don't forget to like our page too) and you can reserve your place by emailing events@commonwealth-exchange.org.