This week, I joined Mike Graham on the The Mike Graham Show to discuss some of the biggest stories behind the headlines, and what the latest numbers tell us about the state of Britain.
From more than 150,000 immigration and asylum appeals waiting to be heard to Britain losing another 94,000 payrolled jobs, the same problem kept appearing:
The Government is spending more money managing the consequences of failure instead of preventing the problems in the first place.
Watch the Full Discussion
Watch my latest Stat of the Nation conversation with Mike Graham below:
150,000 Appeals Waiting to Be Heard
The standout figure this week was 150,000.
That is how many immigration and asylum appeals are currently waiting to be heard.
The average wait for a decision is now 67 weeks.
Remember: that wait begins after an initial immigration or asylum decision has already been made.
The Government has introduced a new target requiring certain new appeals to be heard within 24 weeks. That would be an improvement, but it does not clear the enormous backlog already sitting in the system.
Rejecting an application is one thing.
Resolving the appeal, locating the individual and removing somebody with no legal right to remain is something else entirely.
Britain does not just have an illegal-arrivals problem. It has a removals problem.
Jobs Down. Benefits Up.
We also discussed the weakening labour market.
Britain had 94,000 fewer payrolled employees in July than a year earlier, and approximately 183,000 fewer than around the time of the general election.
Vacancies have fallen to levels last seen in 2014, excluding the pandemic.
At the same time, Universal Credit has reached a record 8.4 million claimants.
There are important caveats. Much of the longer-term increase in Universal Credit reflects existing claimants being transferred from older benefits.
But that transfer is now close to completion, while the underlying caseload continues to rise.
Businesses have also told the Office for National Statistics that higher labour costs and other operating expenses are among the reasons they are recruiting less.
Make employment more expensive and businesses employ fewer people.
Who could possibly have predicted that?
Why Britain’s Energy Costs Matter
Mike and I also discussed the cost of living and why falling inflation does not mean prices are falling.
When inflation drops, prices normally continue increasing, just more slowly than before.
And energy remains central to the problem.
Almost everything produced or sold in Britain requires energy somewhere along the way.
Factories need it.
Shops and restaurants need it.
Transport and distribution depend upon it.
Even your local cafe needs energy to make a cup of tea.
Britain cannot expect to become more competitive while maintaining some of the highest industrial energy costs in the developed world.
Yet we continue importing gas from countries such as Norway while restricting production from our own side of the North Sea.
If we want to reduce the pressure on household bills and British businesses, bringing energy costs down must be a national priority.
Managing Failure After It Happens
These stories may appear separate, but they share a common theme.
Britain taxes employers and then wonders why recruitment falls.
It allows immigration and asylum cases to accumulate and then announces another target to clear them.
It restricts domestic energy production and then complains about high prices and weak economic growth.
Too much government policy is focused on managing failure after it happens.
The country needs to start preventing these problems in the first place.
🎥 Watch the full discussion with Mike Graham above, we cover all of this and plenty more.
What do you think is Britain’s biggest problem: bad policies, poor delivery, or a political system that never accepts responsibility when either goes wrong?
✍️ Jamie Jenkins
Stats Jamie | Stats, Facts & Opinions
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They've lost complete control of the country, it's economic growth, mass immigration and bad foreign actors hacking our institutions. Without a Trump style clampdown we're toast, Jamie !