Migrant workers 'benefit UK economy'

The British economy is benefiting from the influx of migrant workers to the UK, a TUC study has claimed.

The TUC said that immigrants were paying more in taxes than the value of the public services they receive. The union also claimed that the arrival of migrant workers has not depressed jobs or wages.

However, the TUC warned that migrant workers were still at risk of being exploited by "unscrupulous" employers and said that employment rights, such as the minimum wage, should be strictly enforced.

Many migrant workers have come to the UK from eastern Europe since 2004, when a number of new countries joined the European Union.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: "Migrant workers are making a substantial contribution to Britain's economy, and some sectors would collapse if they were removed overnight. They haven't caused mass unemployment or held wages down as some would have us believe.

"But we do not do enough to protect vulnerable workers, whether migrant or indigenous, from exploitation. If migrant workers are treated fairly and paid a decent wage they can only add to the economy, and pose no threat to the livelihoods of the rest of the workforce.

"The availability of migrant workers should not stop employers or government helping unemployed and disadvantaged UK citizens into work, nor stop efforts to give the low skilled the new skills they need to improve their job security and help them get better jobs."

(KMcA/JM)