Dear Supporter,
This week has been a pivotal week in politics, both for me personally, and for this country.
Nationally, we saw the official release of immigration numbers which, whilst not surprising to most of us, were an awful indictment of this current Government. In the year to June 2023 we are told that 672,000 immigrants arrived in the U.K., most through legal means by obtaining visas, and at the same time they updated the number of people arriving in the U.K. last year from 606,000 to 745,000. If the ONS can underestimate the number of arrivals by 23%, we can be reasonably certain that this year’s figures are likely to be significantly worse than their current estimates.
The problems of this number of people arriving in the U.K. are, as we all know, many and various. The most obvious one is where to put them all. With both Labour and the Conservatives presiding over a quarter of a century of underinvestment in our housing stock, we simply don’t have enough homes to go round.
Recently I was having a conversation with someone who sits on a Housing Association board. They told me that they have been asked by the Home Office to report how much space they have for housing Illegal immigrants. Their problem, much like most housing associations, is that they already have a waiting list; in their case over 60,000. If we can’t house the population of this country as it stands, how can we cope with the influx of immigrants amounting to more than the size of Manchester every single year?
On a personal note, this week was a milestone moment as on Thursday, alongside several hundred other Reform members, I was selected as your Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Mid Cheshire.
This week, both nationally and locally, membership has increased on the back on the fall out from the immigration numbers. This means more supporters locally, more votes, and crucially, more people to help spread the word.
If you know anyone who is feeling politically homeless and disappointed with the lack of action from both Conservatives and Labour, talk to them about Reform and how with their help, we can win seats at the next General Election and make a difference.
Thank you as always for your support.
Emma Guy