Immigration causing "serious problems" as Labour is urged to help Brits get back into work

Immigration is causing "serious problems" for public services and living standards according to a senior official at the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). David Miles, an executive at the Government's fiscal watchdog, has warned that expanding the country's population to fuel economic growth cannot be sustained as he called on the Government to focus on getting Britons back into work.

Mr Miles, an economics professor with experience working at the Bank of England, believes that the UK is on course to become the most populous country in Europe by the middle of the 21st century. The United Nations predicts that the UK's population will grow faster than every EU country except Luxembourg, rising to 74.3million by the end of the century. In an essay for the Common Good Foundation, he said: "Immigration - which primarily involves those of working age who are many years away from retirement - both delays the impact of the ageing of the population and is the driver of population growth. Some conclude from this that a faster rise in the population ... will be beneficial in alleviating acute underlying fiscal pressures.

"But, even setting aside the fact that it is GDP per capita that matters for average standards of living - and growth in population does not obviously boost it - there are serious problems with the idea that faster population growth can consistently alleviate fiscal problems."

Mr Miles identified the number of Brits of working age who are currently out of employment as the priority for the Government rather than attempting to fill labour shortages with overseas migrants.

The Government's attempts to introduce welfare reforms aimed at getting more young people back into work failed spectacularly last month amid a rebellion by Labour backbench MPs.

Mr Miles added: "The fiscal benefits of raising the incomes of those who are born in the UK and who might be on a trajectory of consistently below average wages are as great as the benefits of having more people come and stay in the UK with average or, especially, well above average earnings."

Official figures show that the UK is in the midst of a steep increase in population.

According to the Office for National Statistics, there were an estimated 61.8 million people in England and Wales in mid-2024, up by 706,881 from mid-2023.

Reform leader Nigel Farage branded the rise "disastrous for the quality of life for everyone in the country" while Conservatives warned: "The pressure on housing and social cohesion is unacceptable".