National

Swraj Paul joins issue with critics of immigration

Swraj Paul

LONDON: Indian Labour peer Swraj Paul on Saturday joined issue with critics of immigration, saying that immigrants not only contributed to the British economy but also brought “fresh ideas” and “vigour” to the country’s social and political life.

Speaking during a debate on the issue in the House of Lords, Lord Paul said Britain had been a country of immigrants for “a long, long time” and benefited from their contribution.

“In my view, the status Britain has enjoyed throughout its history compared to its size and population is largely due to the fact that we welcome immigrants from all over the world and have recognised their value and contribution. In my experience, immigrants bring in fresh ideas, more vigour and a much greater desire for success. This is natural because in order to be a success in a new country one has to work at least twenty-five per cent harder to be counted at par,” he said.

Citing his own experience, Lord Paul told the House: “I started my business in this country with a loan of £5,000. Today the Caparo Group, of which I am the founder and Chairman... has a turnover of more than £ 1 billion and employs 3,000 people in Britain alone, and another 5,000 in the United States and India.”

Commenting on the report of Parliament’s Economic Affairs Committee on immigration, he questioned some of its conclusions.

Lord Paul, who is a member of the committee, argued that using evidence of GDP per capita as the basis to assess the benefits of immigration was “fundamentally flawed.”

“One immigrant comes with his wife and two children. Using this model, his contribution to the economy is divided by four. But my contention is that after 10 years his children grow up, and his wife may well do some kind of work. So then you have four people all contributing to the economy and this increases the GDP with a multiple of four,” he said.

Investment in the immigrant communities must be looked at on a more long-term basis and not a short-term basis to suit some short-term results, Lord Paul pointed out and warned: “If Britain did not have an immigrant community, and I know this from running an industrial business myself, we would not have a labour force, we would not have the same productivity, and we would not have the size of economy we have today.”

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