Anyone who was depressed by the powerful splash in the Daily Telegraph today about Britain’s brain drain had best sit down. I have worse news. It may be a new OECD report, but the data’s from the 2000/01 census (first served up on CoffeeHouse). So the picture today will be much, much worse.
At the turn of the century just 161,000 Brits a year were emigrating. After a few more years of this wonderful government, the Brits voting with their feet had steadily risen to 206,000 a year. So how many Brits has Labour hounded out of this country? We won’t know until the next worldwide headcount, due at the turn of the decade. By then, Britain may have overtaken Mexico to become the country that repels more of its own people than any other developed nation. How’s that for a New Labour achievement?
P.S. And no, it’s not a global trend. As I wrote last November, the OECD found 1.26m
Get Britain's best politics newsletters
Register to get The Spectator's insight and opinion straight to your inbox. You can then read two free articles each week.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in