'Uncontrolled immigration has led to long GP and hospital waits, lack of school choice and lower wages'

I did not read what Mrs Lily Burke (Readers’ Views, December 11) said about migrants and the NHS but John Smithee’s riposte (Readers’ Views, January 1) repeats the-oft quoted ‘fact’ about EU migrants contributing more than they take out – “they make a positive contribution to the Exchequer”.

That statement runs contrary to common sense and everybody knows it. We have three to five million new inhabitants since freedom of movement from Eastern Europe to the UK began.

Three million is the unofficial “official” figure, but no one knows for sure, and there are suggestions that up to five million EU citizens, the workers, their spouses and dependants have arrived.

In the real world people know that uncontrolled immigration has been a major contributing factor to the long waits for GP and hospital appointments, to maternity care being under pressure, to the lengthening of A&E waiting times, to kids not getting the school of their choice, to increased competition for rental accomodation and to the depression of wages.

I think that the political, media and liberal elite – the ones who raise their hands in horror and scream “racist” if you actually mention immigration – really do think that if we were told the truth we would go out and physically attack migrants.

So they keep perpetuating misinformation or, as some would say, “lies” and insist an ageing population is at fault for all the problems in the NHS. When it comes down to it they are telling us that it’s our elderly parents and grandparents that are to blame.

How weak and cowardly to blame the most vulnerable rather than blame the failure of political decisions and social engineering.

One consequence of this nastiness was a significant number of the Remain voting population wanting a second referendum, expecting to win a Remain vote (almost gloatingly) because lots of Leave voters had died since 2016.

Has there ever been a time when younger people wanted older people to die off quickly or seen their deaths as an opportunity?

But of course it isn’t the migrants’ fault either! It’s the fault of unfettered freedom of movement, with one useless government after another being unable to prepare for an increase in population and mitigate the effects on the existing citizens.

After totting up the additional costs for our NHS and schools, tax credits and child benefit, including that sent back to the home country, how on earth can anyone claim that an additional three to five million people do not have a negative financial impact when most of them are on minimum wage, paying little or no tax and national insurance?

Those migrants with good well-paid jobs cannot pay enough to compensate for all that.

No wonder the last election was a powerful affirmation of the referendum vote in 2016.

David Silver,

via email.