United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Land Population

VIII. Comment on the newspaper article “White Britons will be outnumbered by 2066 if the rate of immigration continues, researchers have claimed” given below.

The following phrases will be helpful.
I see…, First and foremost …, To begin with …, In fact …, On the one hand …, On the other hand …, As far as I know ….
The Telegraph

By Laura Roberts 18 November, 2010
White Britons will be outnumbered by 2066 if the rate of immigration continues, researchers have claimed
Foreign workers will "change national identity" according to a population expert, unless the flow of immigration is dealt with. The white British-born community (defined as English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish-born citizens) will fall to less than half of the overall population in just over 50 years.

The warning from Professor David Coleman from Oxford University comes ahead of an announcement today by the Migration Advisory Board of its recommendation for the proposed immigration cap for people outside the EU.

Figures from the Office of National Statistics show that if immigration remains at a long-term rate of around 180,000 a year the proportion of the white British-born population will fall from 80 per cent to 59 per cent by 2051. In that time the white immigrant population will have risen from 4 to 10 per cent and ethnic minority population from 16 to 31 per cent. Writing in Prospect magazine, Prof Coleman wrote: "On those assumptions the 'white British' population would decline to 45 million by 2051. Were the assumptions to hold, the 'white British' population of Britain would become the minority after about 2066. It's a milestone that would be passed much earlier in younger age groups." He said this would "represent an enormous change to national identity – cultural, political, economic and religious".

The Coalition Government has pledged to reduce net immigration and proposed a cap on non-EU immigrants. Businesses, however, have complained this could hamper their competitiveness to attract the best candidates globally.

However, Prof Coleman went on to say that even if net immigration was reduced to 80,000 a year white Britons would still be outnumbered by 2080. He said the transition of white Britons to a minority was likely to be "unwelcome" following opposition from the general public to high immigration.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/8142176/White-Britons-to-become-minority-by-2066.html, 13.12.2010