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England to be most crowded in Europe
forecasts show nation's population expected to rise by a third over 50 years
- - The Telegraph Group Limited, London 2008
- Published: 00:36 May 7, 2008
London: The population of England will increase by a third over the next 50 years as it becomes the most crowded major nation in Europe, official forecasts suggest.
The population density in England is almost double the level in Germany
The current population of England is 50 million, but by 2056 the figure will be 68 million, meaning an average of 1,349 people will live in every square mile. At the moment England's population density is 1,010 people per square mile.
In London the population density will jump from 12,377 people per square mile to 13,910 over the course of just 20 years, increasing strain on housing and transport to unprecedented levels.
The Conservatives, who obtained the figures in a parliamentary answer, said they were a damning indictment of Labour's immigration policy and once again called for tariffs on migration.
Damian Green, the shadow Immigration minister, said: "This demonstrates the real pressure public services are being put under as a result of Labour's immigration policy.
"This is why the Government should adopt our policy of setting a limit on immigration which takes into account its impact on public services as well as the economy and social cohesion."
The population density in England is already almost double the level in Germany and quadruple that in France. In January it was predicted that England will become the most crowded major country in Europe in two years time, overtaking Holland, which has 1,017 people per square mile, and leaving England second only to the tiny island of Malta in terms of population density.
James Clappison, the Conservative MP who obtained the Office of National Statistics figures, said people's quality of life was bound to get far worse as the country became more crowded.
He said: "An increase in population density of this scale is bound to have a very significant impact on the quality of life.
"It is in no small measure due to the migration policy of the present Government and ministers' reluctance to address the consequences of this policy.
"In fact when questioned ministers have been unable to say when inward migration and net migration was ever higher."
About 1.3 million immigrants have arrived in the past decade and ministers say the record levels are required because the British economy has 600,000 job vacancies. Yet the benefits to indigenous Britons have been questioned, most recently by a cross-party group of peers in the House of Lords. Sir Andrew Green, the chairman of MigrationWatch, said: "This underlines the Government's crazy immigration policy, or lack of it, which accounts for 70 per cent of our population growth.
"In two years time we will be the most crowded country in Europe and we are having to build a new house ever six minutes for new immigrants. This situation cannot go on."
London aside, the biggest regional rises in population will be in the east of England and in the South West. In each area the population will increase by 16 per cent by 2029. During the same period the population of the North East is expected to remain static.
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