You Are Angry About the Wrong Type of Migration

The political obsession with immigration is a distraction from the real betrayal of this country.

Immigration dominates British political discourse. It’s the perennial scapegoat, blamed for everything from NHS waiting times to housing shortages. Headlines obsess over small boats and visa caps. Even Labour, once the voice of a more inclusive Britain, now brags about how many people it’s deporting.

But while we’re being told to fear who’s coming in, we’re missing a much bigger story: who’s leaving, who’s staying untouchable, and who’s really draining Britain’s future.
The real migration crisis isn’t about workers arriving. It’s about wealth quietly disappearing. About billionaires relocating to tax havens. About young people giving up and going abroad. And about a country kept standing by the very immigrants we’re told to resent.

The Myth of the "Burden" Migrant

We’re told that immigrants are taking more than they give. But the numbers just don’t back it up. Migrants pay more in taxes than they receive in benefits. The NHS would collapse without them. The care sector can’t function without them. And international students bring in more money than the fishing and steel industries combined.
This idea that immigrants are a “drain” is a story, a convenient one. But it’s not reality.

Let’s be clear, though: a person’s worth isn’t measured by what they can provide. Migrants are not machines or numbers. They are people: neighbours, parents, students, friends. Their right to live safely and with dignity should not be contingent on how well they prop up the British economy. But if the debate insists on treating them as economic units, then the facts still stand firmly in their favour.

Labour’s Immigration Pivot: A Race to the Bottom

Keir Starmer's Labour has swung hard on immigration. The party is positioning itself as “tougher than the Tories” , abolishing the health and care worker visa route, raising salary thresholds for skilled migrants, and quietly supporting policies that restrict family reunification. In 2025, net migration fell to 431,000, down from 672,000 in 2023; a drop largely driven by new government caps, not falling demand.

This retreat is framed as pragmatism. A response to public “concern.” But public concern doesn’t always emerge organically. It is shaped by headlines, by political rhetoric, and by decades of scapegoating. Politicians of all stripes have found it easier to blame immigrants for systemic failings than confront the structural rot in housing, wages, and public services.

Every time a minister blames immigrants for NHS waiting times, they’re covering up their own failure to invest in staff and resources. Every time they point to net migration figures, they’re distracting you from the billions disappearing offshore.

Immigrants Are Holding Britain Together

Take the NHS. As of 2024, over 50% of new care workers came to the UK through the now-suspended Health and Care Worker Visa route. Without them, the system collapses. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, vacancies in social care surged by 17% following changes to migration rules. We are, quite literally, deporting the people looking after our ageing population.

The UK economy is also reliant on international students and graduates, a group the government seems keen to deter. With government funding for higher education stagnating, many universitys depend on international tuition fees to subsidise domestic places and research. In fact, in some universities, fees from overseas students make up more than a third of total income.  Yet analysis by the Migration Observatory shows that the Graduate Visa Route brings in £15 billion over ten years. That’s £15 billion that goes into local economies, housing, services, and tax revenue, and yet we treat these individuals like they’re temporary nuisances. And this isn’t just about “low-skilled” migration. A 2023 study found that UK firms with foreign-born managers were 7–12% more productive than those without. Migration brings skills, innovation, and entrepreneurship. It fills gaps we desperately need filled, from the NHS to engineering to digital infrastructure.

In fact, 39% of UK startups valued over $1bn were founded by immigrants. Migrants also make crucial contributions to education, technology, and public service, from senior NHS consultants to PhD researchers keeping our universities globally competitive.

Beyond the statistics, migrants revitalise communities. They move into struggling areas, open businesses, keep high streets alive, and help maintain public services that would otherwise shut down. Their cultural and social contributions, from cuisine to care networks to community organising, are woven into the fabric of British life.

Let’s be brutally honest: if immigrants stopped working tomorrow, Britain would grind to a halt. But when billionaires leave? Nothing breaks: except maybe a few tax loopholes.

The Real Migration Crisis: Wealth Exodus, Not Worker Influx

Now let’s talk about the people really migrating. The ones who actually undermine the social contract.

In 2025, the number of billionaires in the UK dropped for the first time in decades, from 165 to 156. High-net-worth individuals are reportedly “fleeing” the UK due to Labour’s modest tax reforms, including scrapping non-dom status and inheritance loopholes. Henley & Partners estimated over 10,000 millionaires left the UK in 2024.

To which I say: let them go.

Because they’re not leaving because they’re overburdened. They’re leaving because they might be asked to contribute something proportionate to the vast wealth they’ve accumulated: often off the back of public infrastructure and a low-wage workforce.

While newspapers splash front pages about “illegal migrants,” Britain quietly hosts a vast network of shell companies, offshore accounts, and anonymous property ownership. In London alone, over £100 billion worth of property is owned by overseas investors. Empty flats. Shell holdings. Money parked, not circulated. What good is a flat in Mayfair owned by a trust in the Cayman Islands doing for British families looking for housing?

We don’t just have a migration problem. We have a capital flight crisis. 

What We Should Really Be Ashamed Of

When we say we want people to “play by the rules,” what we often mean is that poor and working-class people should be quiet and grateful. That migrants should accept less, smile more, and prove their worth.

But what about the wealthy? What rules do they play by?

The UK has long been a haven for capital flight. From shell companies to luxury property ownership, the elite class has gamified the tax system. And when even minimal reform arrives, they pack their bags.

This isn’t about envy. It’s about fairness. Most people, wherever they fall politically, believe in pulling your weight. But right now, nurses are expected to, teachers are expected to, immigrants are expected to. The ultra-wealthy? They’re exempt.

We have inverted patriotism. Paying taxes is patriotic. Contributing to the public good is patriotic. Demanding decent wages and conditions is patriotic. What is not patriotic is using Britain's infrastructure, education system, labour market and consumer base to become a billionaire, then abandoning ship the moment you're asked to pay for school meals or cancer wards.

We are training the world’s best workforce, only to ship it off like unwanted exports.

Regional Impact and the Brain Drain

Migration doesn't just benefit London. In cities like Glasgow, Manchester, and Sheffield, migrants keep local hospitals running, rent homes, and open businesses. They are part of the economic lifeblood of towns hit hard by austerity.

At the same time, we’re losing another group of vital workers: young British professionals. Nurses, teachers, and engineers are increasingly moving abroad, not to stash money but to survive. Countries like Australia and Canada are actively recruiting disillusioned British workers with better pay, lower rent, and more respect.

This isn’t a betrayal, it’s a warning siren. Young people are leaving because:

• Wages in the UK are stagnant and there aren't enough jobs.

• Rent is unaffordable, especially in urban areas.

• Job security and working conditions are crumbling.

• Public services are overstretched and underfunded.

These are people who want to build lives here but simply can’t. The brain drain is not selfishness. It’s what happens when a country devalues its own workers. And while billionaires flee with their tax liabilities, these young professionals leave with their skills, compassion, and community ties.

We are losing builders while keeping looters.

The Media’s Role: Manufacturing Crisis, Ignoring Collapse

So why does this keep happening? Because our media has spent years training us to panic about the wrong things. Tabloids churn out horror stories about small boats and foreign workers. Meanwhile, they turn a blind eye to billionaires funnelling wealth overseas or corporations dodging tax.

Headlines don’t happen by accident. They shape what we believe. And right now, they are doing the job of the ultra-rich for them.

Rethink What Betrayal Looks Like

So next time you hear someone ranting about migration, ask them:
Which kind are you worried about, the ones caring for your loved ones, or the ones stashing millions in Monaco? We need to stop falling for the misdirection. Because if we keep blaming the people holding the country together, we’ll never hold the right people accountable.

Be angry that billionaires flee when asked to give back.

But don’t be angry at the people migrating here to work, to contribute, and to build lives. They’re not the problem. In many ways, they’re the ones holding up what’s left of this country.