26 January 2012

Katwala interviewed by Paxman on migrant benefits

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British Future director Sunder Katwala was interviewed by Newsnight’s Jeremy Paxman. The interview was on the day the government released statistics saying 371,000 people who had not been born in Britain were claiming benefits.

Employment minister Chris Grayling said recording the figures was part of the process of building a system that “we have confidence in” and that he wanted to make sure the government was paying money to those who were entitled to it.

Newsnight showed that the number of non-British born residents claiming benefits was 6.6% compared to 16.6% of British born.

The discussion looked at opinions on migrants net contribution, and questions about the relationship of the welfare state to migrants. Katwala said this was a sensitive issue and one that the government was right to identify but the figures showed that migrants were net contributors on education, health and benefits.

 

 

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