October 2: Immigration figures do not tell whole story about overcrowded Britain

BRIAN Sheridan (The Yorkshire Post, September 23) corrects B Dixon’s claim that Britain is the most densely populated country in Europe by citing Netherlands followed by Belgium as holding top spots in this statistic.

Les Arnott (The Yorkshire Post, September 25) introduced the argument that the population density of England, where the vast majority of immigrants end, was more relevant.

Large areas of Scotland are virtually uninhabitable compared with the Netherlands where there is more even distribution of population. England contains extensive tracts of terrain where settlement would also be precarious. I’m sure Brian would recognise this fact in his knowledge of the “Dark Peak”, the Bronte Moorlands, The Dales, and North York Moors as well as many more upland areas such as Cumbria and Northumberland. Belgium admittedly has the Ardennes, but is generally more equal in it’s distribution.

Even though these anomalies exist, which implies that our population is more concentrated than any other amongst the major countries of Europe, the latest raw figures reveal that England is the most densely populated, ahead of Holland and Belgium. Germany’s density is almost half ours, while France, with its enormous area, is predicted to be four times less cramped than England in another decade.

Immigration and the high birth rate of migrant communities are the prime cause in England of this acceleration. Does it matter? I believe most people who are not too permeated by political correctness would understand that the stress on schools, housing, social services, hospitals and road congestion is such as to cause serious concern.

The argument that our ageing population requires young immigrants to support their retirement omits the crucial fact that in the long run these younger people grow old themselves and more and more immigrants will be required for their support and the population will continue to amass until it almost explodes. A brake surely has to be applied sometime.

Population density statistics appear to be rather trivial when the humanitarian aspects are considered but lobby groups and politicians like Tim Farron, who whipped up a frenzy of altruism at the recent Lib Dem conference, are amongst the first to flay the Government when the wheels come off and the social services fail to cope, pollution endangers the air we breathe and our economic wellbeing suffers.