Immigration

Imagine a nation on the brink. A population growing at 5% a year might sound like prosperity − more workers, greater demand, expanding tax revenues. Businesses thrive, infrastructure improves, and the economy hums. 

But what happens when that trend reverses? A steady 5% decline each year. In a decade, nearly 40% of the population vanishes. Not relocated, not redistributed − simply gone. Streets empty, businesses shutter, and tax revenues collapse. The burden of an ageing population falls on a shrinking workforce, stretching public services beyond breaking point.

This isn’t alarmism, it’s economic reality. When working-age people leave, they take their spending, skills, and tax contributions with them. Those left behind pay the price − stagnation, higher costs, crumbling infrastructure. Businesses struggle to hire, innovation slows, and productivity falls. Wages might rise in response to labour shortages, but without enough workers to sustain industries, inflation soars. Less productivity, higher costs, fewer customers. The downward spiral continues.

Immigration isn’t the problem, it’s the answer. The NHS depends on foreign doctors and nurses, the tech sector thrives on skilled programmers and engineers, and social care would collapse without migrant workers supporting an ageing population. Logistics, food processing, financial services, and creative industries don’t just survive on migration − they flourish because of it. The UK needs 350,000 net migrants annually just to hold the line. Without them, economic contraction is inevitable. The idea that immigration is a burden is economic illiteracy. Without fresh skills, investment, and tax revenue, the country withers.

Yet Farage and Reform peddle the fantasy that closing the doors will restore prosperity. It won’t. The NHS would crumble, construction would stall, and major industries would flounder. Britain’s history is built on migration − fueling innovation, driving industry, sustaining public services. Slashing migration doesn’t solve economic problems, it creates them.

Attracting the right skills is crucial. The UK needs healthcare workers, engineers, and advanced manufacturers. Policies must align visas and sponsorships with economic demand to prevent shortages in key sectors while avoiding oversaturation in others. Migrants don’t just show up hoping for work. The claim that people arrive with no employment prospects is largely a myth. Unless they are refugees, most come to fill gaps where demand exceeds supply. Even refugees must be considered carefully − if they are unlikely to find employment and become a permanent economic drain, the numbers must be managed accordingly, but tempered with compassion.

The conversation doesn’t end with migration. AI and automation pose another challenge − job displacement. Some claim fewer workers will be needed, but history suggests technology reshapes economies rather than eliminating jobs. The real issue isn’t whether AI replaces work − but who benefits from it.

AI will make business owners richer while leaving workers scrambling for a foothold. While automation drives corporate profits, it will also create roles in AI maintenance, data science, and robotics. But the transition won’t be seamless. Many low-skilled workers will be displaced, forced into lower-paid roles or unemployment. Efficiency gains from automation will mean surging profits for corporations but shrinking tax revenues and weaker consumer spending. The current tax system, built around human labour, is unfit for an AI-dominated economy.

The tax regime must change. Businesses raking in profits from AI-driven efficiency must contribute fairly. Higher corporate taxes on AI-enhanced firms, levies on automation-driven job losses, and wealth redistribution measures are essential - in any economy. The proceeds must fund a robust safety net to prevent displaced workers from falling into poverty.

With a declining population and AI-driven job losses, the property market will nosedive. Fewer people mean fewer buyers and renters. House prices will plummet, dragging banks and mortgages with them. Investors who once saw property as a safe bet will see their assets crumble, while landlords struggle to fill vacant homes. This isn’t just an economic downturn − it’s a collapse.

Public services will suffer. Fewer taxpayers mean less funding for healthcare, education, and infrastructure. The NHS, already stretched thin, will see longer wait times and worsening staff shortages. Local councils will struggle to maintain roads, social care, and waste management. In the hardest-hit areas, schools may close, emergency services may be cut, and transport networks may shrink − deepening economic stagnation and prompting further emigration.

The numbers don’t lie. A shrinking population, an ageing workforce, an AI-driven corporate gold rush − together, they spell disaster. Without bold, proactive policies, Britain risks becoming a hollowed-out economy, drained of talent, burdened by debt, and locked in decline.

So the next time someone claims mass emigration is nothing to worry about, or that immigration is a crisis, show them the facts. Show them the trajectory. Show them the reality of ignoring economic fundamentals. Because once the spiral begins, reversing it becomes almost impossible. And those left behind? They’ll be the ones picking up the pieces, long after the opportunists have walked away.