One in three babies in England now has a parent who was born abroad
The
statistics, obtained by Tory MP Nicholas Soames, show that some 131,288
children had two foreign-born parents – 18.1 per cent of the total
number of births in 2011.
A further 12.9 per cent – a total of 93,655 – had one parent who was born outside the UK.
At the end of the year, immigration restrictions will be lifted on
Romanians and Bulgarians – prompting concerns that the numbers will rise
yet further.
Andrew Green, of MigrationWatch, said the figures were ‘astonishing’. He
added: ‘This is the clear result of Labour’s mass immigration policy
which is changing the nature of our society at a speed which is
unacceptable to the public who of course were never consulted.’
The figures – obtained after a parliamentary question – show that 64.9 per cent of babies born in London in 2011 had either one or two parents born outside the UK.
Mixed capital: In London, 64.9 per cent of babies born in 2011 had either one or two parents born abroad
There were 27,403 births where one parent was foreign-born (20.6 per
cent of the total), and 58,905 where both were born abroad (44.3 per
cent).
The next highest percentages were seen in the West Midlands, where 28.7
per cent had at least one foreign parent; the South East, 27.7 per cent;
and the East of England, which covers counties to the north and east of
the capital, 26.9 per cent.
At the other end of the scale, the figure in the North East was 13.1
per cent, and 14 per cent in Wales. In Scotland, it was 18.3 per cent.
Shocking: The figures were obtained by Tory MP Nicholas Soames
David Green, from the centre-right think-tank Civitas, said: ‘The
irresponsible actions of the last government have played havoc with
public services, leading to serious harm especially in the NHS, and
serious harm in the schools system.
‘Maternity units are in crisis, there are huge pressures on school
places, and housing is under even more pressure that it otherwise would
have been.’
A spokesman for the Office for National Statistics said that in 2000,
the proportion of babies in England and Wales born to at least one
foreign-born parent was 21.2 per cent.
It is the first time the figures have been released on both parents.
The ONS usually only releases information on what proportion of mothers
are foreign-born.
Last October, it was revealed that in 2011, there were 808,000 births,
comprised of 612,000 births to UK-born women and 196,000 births to
non-UK born women.
This meant that 24 per cent of births in 2011 were to non-UK born women – an increase of two percentage points since 2007.
The top five non-UK born mothers’ countries by number of births were Poland, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Nigeria.
Not all births are necessarily to parents who live in Britain
permanently, as some could be people who travel to the UK to take
advantage of its free NHS.
Last month, a leading surgeon, Professor Meirion Thomas, said the UK was
becoming the ‘world’s maternity wing’ as people travel here simply to
give birth.
Years of high immigration levels have put intolerable pressure on
maternity units because the number of births has been far higher than
officials had predicted. There is currently a shortage of more than
3,000 midwives in the NHS.