Efforts to bury the scandal of the 2001 census results are surpassed
only by attempts to bury the role of Tony Blair in leading us to war with
Iraq and in victimising Kelly.    We now seem to be living with a kind of
multi-number population era.   The latest revisions for 2001 were promised
for last week.   But in spite of the National Statistics commitment to firm
release dates publication was deferred until tomorrow - to correct errors.

Simon Briscoe's piece in the FT gives a summary of the background.   Look
out for the press release on the ONS website if you have a serious interest.
The latest estimates might disappear if there are further revisions.

Ray Thomas
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NATIONAL NEWS: Britain loses its allure for immigrants from EU and the US.
By Simon Briscoe, Statistics Editor.   Financial Times; Sep 24, 2003

            The number of people from the European Union and the US coming
to live in Britain is the lowest since the early 1990s while the numbers
from
Pakistan, the Middle East and countries outside the Commonwealth are at a
record high, according to the latest government figures.

            The result is that the UK is now a "net exporter" of people to
the EU and US, having been a "net importer" during the 1990s. Australia has
traditionally been the only net recipient of Britons over a run of years.

            Migration is increasing the number of men, dependants and single
people in the country - in addition to augmenting the ethnic mix. The bulk,
98 per cent, of the inflow of 172,000 people in 2001 came from the so-called
new commonwealth - including India, Pakistan and the Caribbean - and
non-European countries, including China, Hong Kong and the Philippines,
according to the National Statistics office.

            The number of immigrants from India, Pakistan and Africa
outnumber those leaving the UK to those countries by four to one. The inflow
from North America and the antipodes about matched the outflow.

            The net outflow to the EU of 15,000 in the past two years
compares with a net inflow of 66,000 in the previous six years. The net
inflow from the rest of Europe has remained strong - the inflow of 39,000 in
the past two years compared with 84,000 in the previous six years.

            The inflow of students and children hit a record high in 2001,
accounting for half of the total net increase.

            The figures cast further doubt on the results of the 2001
population census, which reported a large outflow of young men during the
1990s. The migration figures show that 92 per cent of immigrants in the past
decade were of people aged 15 to 44. In 2001 alone, nearly 400,000 people in
that age group arrived in Britain while 240,000 left the country. London was
the destination of choice accounting for 60 per cent of net inflows.

            The National Statistics office is expected to reveal on Friday
how these figures relate to the total population of the country when they
publish revised mid-year estimates. The release of these numbers was
postponed from last Friday due to errors being spotted at the last minute.
The net increase in England due to international migration was slightly
higher than the increase in the UK.

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