Only 8%.............?

[has]

Why do authorities state that only 8% of the GB population are foreigners?

Are they the same authorities that have recently doctored the crime figures?

[boxtops]

I don't have any problem with either percentage.

[Svejk]

that'll be undercover SAS in Hereford.

[sherrardk]

They're not that undercover, they look like the blokes off the phone number search advert.

[pixie373]

Jno, the 11.3% is census based- but that's for the UK, not just GB.

[emmie]

don't know about other places, but this is some info

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_groups_in_London

[Svejk]

there's no foreigners in NI (except the jocks and English who stole property over hundreds of years) so that must make the percentage higher in GB.

[saintpeter48]

I live in Southampton and its like living in Eastern Europe, I feel like a stranger in my own town! St Mark’s Primary School in Shirley’s Stafford Road, pupils speak a staggering 42 different languages between them.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2613565/Polish-invasion-thats-SAVED-home-town-An-influx-25-000-Poles-left-Southamptons-schools-bursting-locals-feeling-pushed-But-BARBARA-DAVIES-grew-theres-story.html#ixzz30pRE2jmS
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[jno]

pixie, I think I got the figure from Wikipedia, but it said it was for 2010, which was before the census. The census may have shown the same number.

The figure was for foreign-born. I expect that's not what the OP is talking about. He's been somewhere, seen non-white faces everywhere and assumed he's being overrun by aliens. But many of those may well have been born here. Conversely, many foreign-born types aren't immediately visible to the naked eye because they're white Europeans (EU or not), Americans, Australians etc

[BlueToffee]

Of course, when Scotland goes independent, all the Scots living in England will be foreigners, the figure will go even higher!

[THECORBYLOON]

It would be interesting to know how HAS knew who the foreign folk were. Did she conduct a survey with those she seen, did she count the individual accents? I could hazard a guess but I'll let HAS tell us.

[New Judge]

This debate is purely academic. The fact is that nobody - least of all anybody in the government - has any idea what percentage of the UK’s population is “foreign”. Leaving aside the matter of illegal entrants (which may well make up a hefty proportion of those here) nobody knows how many people from the EU have arrived here and decided to stay. Apart from the various underestimations that have occurred recently it has been ruled last week that immigration officials are not even allowed to ask entrants from the EU how long they are intending to stay. It apparently breaks EU “freedom of movement” laws.

One thing is for sure - you can take the government’s accepted figure and at least double it.

[emmie]

come here and see for yourself, not to mention the figures are out there, not just wiki, over 300 languages spoken, and that white British though still in the majority, only slightly, that situation may well change in the next few years, who knows.

[emmie]

and it is like living in a foreign country, in fact many foreign countries,
x

[ummmm]

Surely you see lots of tourists Emmie?

[New Judge]

Yes emmie is quite right. The overall 8% figure (or whatever it really is) is totally useless when trying to assess the impact that mass immigration has had on people‘s lives. Some areas of London (and other conurbations) are predominantly inhabited by people other than white British. (And, by the way, being born in Britain does not make somebody British as has been suggested).

[Graham-W]

A study by Oxford University gives these figures:
In 2012, the UK population was 11.4% foreign-born (up from 7% in 1993) and 7.2% foreign citizens (up from 4% in 1993).

I guess the 4.2% ( 11.4-7.2) is a mixture of the children of British nationals returning to their homeland and immigrants who have been granted British Citizenship.
These figures are significantly lower than the likes of USA and Australia.
Is "has" complaining about something or praising our diversity.

[THECORBYLOON]

"(And, by the way, being born in Britain does not make somebody British as has been suggested)" and being English and black does not mean they are not English as has been said before.

[ToraToraTora]

go back far enough and we are all "foriegn"!