Nick Ferrari Dismisses Professor's Claim Immigration Has Increased Wages
19 September 2018, 08:10
When a Professor claimed that wages for working people had actually risen following the rise in immigration, Nick Ferrari was inundated with tradesmen insisting he's wrong.
Jonathan Portes, the former Chief Economist to the Cabinet Office, told Nick that earnings for self-employed construction workers in London had actually risen.
He said: "Despite everything you hear, the evidence that immigration has put down wages isn't there."
But Nick told him: "Do you believe that Professor? I don't.
"I don't know if you've had to engage workers lately, people who come round as carpenters, plasterers or plumbers. They will tell you that the influx of a lot of Polish workers means that their day rate has gone down markedly."
Professor Portes claimed: "They will tell you, but this is data. This is the earnings that people report to HMRC over the last 15 years."
"Because everyone's honest with what they tell the HMRC they earn, aren't they Professor," countered Nick. "I just don't believe it.
"You're a very learned man and very well read. But honestly, if you went out to any building site around London or any other major city, you're going to be told that their rate has gone down. Fact."
