UK Population ‘Gains the Equivalent of a New Town’ Every Week, by Victoria Friedman.

A report by think tank Civitas says that the population of the United Kingdom is growing at a rate of more than 500,000 a year – the equivalent of a new town of about 10,000 people being created every week.

The report states that whilst the total fertility rate (TFR) amongst the settled population continues to fall, population growth has been increased in part by the higher fertility rates of immigrants, noting that “in 2013 women born in four countries – Poland, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh – accounted for 8.8 per cent of all the births in the UK.“

The report points to the legacy of former prime minister Tony Blair’s immigration policies and EU expansion as sources for the rapid growth of the UK’s population since the mid-1990s.

Until 1995, two elements contributed to a slow rise in population growth over the preceding 30 years: a falling British fertility rate and low net immigration.

“These trends were changed by two factors. The first was the decision by the Labour Government after coming to power in 1997 to encourage large-scale immigration from the Commonwealth – particularly the new Commonwealth countries of India and Pakistan,” researchers write.

Blair has been accused of presiding over a “silent conspiracy” to flood the UK with migrants whilst he was prime minster, ordering his ministers to not discuss the subject in public, with his government working to force the country to “see the benefit of a multicultural society”.

hat-tip Stephen Neil