Daily Mail
January 1, 2014
England has become the most overcrowded major country in Europe.
Population growth is so rapid that four times as many people will soon be crammed in as France and twice as many as Germany.
England has overtaken the Netherlands to become second only to tiny Malta as the most densely populated nation in the EU.
Over the next 30 years the gap will widen because Germany, France and Holland will either decline or grow only slowly.
The House of Commons figures – based on data from the UK and EU statistical agencies – show the huge impact of Labour’s open-door immigration policy.
By 2046, an estimated 494 people will be squeezed into every square kilometre of England compared with 411 now and only 374 when Tony Blair took power in 1997.
The revelations will fuel the debate over immigration, especially with the UK opening its borders to Romanian and Bulgarian workers on New Year’s Day.
James Clappison, the Tory MP who obtained the figures, said: ‘Under the last Labour government, England’s green and pleasant land became England’s green and crowded land.
‘For reasons which have never been properly explained, Labour instigated a policy of massive expansion of immigration.
The fear must be a future Labour government would do the same’. Sir Andrew Green, chairman of the Migrationwatch think-tank, said 90 per cent of immigrants to the UK headed to England.
‘The rapidly growing population density is an inevitable consequence of Labour’s mass immigration of nearly four million in 13 years,’ he added.
‘We already see the pressure on maternity units and primary schools. Less visible is the pressure on housing, which is already in crisis.
‘We will need to build 200 houses a day for the next 20 years or so simply for new immigrants and their families.
ENGLAND FEELS THE SQUEEZE
Number of people expected to be living per square kilometre in 2015 – by country
- England – 419
- Holland – 408
- Wales – 258
- Germany – 226
- Italy – 205
- N. Ireland – 130
- Poland – 123
- Portugal – 116
- France – 105
- Romania – 89
- Bulgaria – 66
- Scotland – 40