Immigration is 'good for business'
Mon 4 Feb 2008
The latest wave of immigration has been good for the UK economy, according to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Susan Anderson, director of human resources policy, said the influx has placed demands on public services but that it has "certainly helped us to meet the skills gap and shortages that we have in the UK". She made her comments speaking on ITV's GMTV Sunday Programme when she described the immigrants as "very willing" and "very enthusiastic". Recent immigrants have taken a variety of jobs across the UK's employment market, not just labouring and menial posts. She acknowledged it is important to train UK residents to fill skills gaps, as there is a shortage in sectors like construction. The newcomers, she said, have had a marked effect on our prosperity and "brought very real benefits to us". "Our economy has been growing for example faster than some of those EU states where they said no, certainly temporarily to migrant works." The UK has benefited from successive waves of immigrants, one of the first groups to arrive were The Huguenots, French Protestants fleeing persecution.
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