What Britain Would Look Like If All Migrants Left

While UN dedicated days tend to have something a bit artificial about them (I remember writing an article on Kenyan sanitation once, and an editor telling me publication would coincide with World Toilet Day – turns out that actually exists), they do help to draw media attention to under-reported issues. Today’s ‘1 Day Without Us’ grassroots campaign in the UK – coinciding with UN World Day of Social Justice - is a good example.

For 24 hours, migrants from inside and outside the EU, and everyone who supports them, celebrate the contribution that they make. The underlying aim is to make people aware of what the country would be like if all migrants left. Via #1DayWithoutUs on Twitter, pictures of hospital staff teams representing six nationalities are shared alongside public demonstrations.

This article, like many similar reports in UK media, highlights some basic, yet mind-boggling statistics underpinning the case:

• The UK economy would lose £328m – or 4% of total UK daily GDP – if migrants stopped working for a day.

• Migrant workers in the UK make up 10.9% of the total workforce (6% are from EU countries).

• Some 31% of cleaning and household staff and 26% of health professionals are foreign-born.

• The UK’s food industry is particularly reliant on migrant workers.

A senior economist at the New Economist Foundation warns that the loss of migrant workers would be “an economic calamity and an affront to the hard-won openness and inclusivity that exists.”

He said: “Our research shows that if those born overseas were to down tools for a day, our whole economic system could grind to a halt. We urgently need to address the helplessness which so many people feel in the current economy.”