Listen to the introductory remarks from this week's Battle of Ideas satellite at the House of St. Barnabas in London
The announcement that the UK population grew last year by half a
million – roughly the population of Edinburgh – has provoked much
discussion about whether the country will cope with an increasing demand
on resources. With half that rise coming from migration rather than
births, there have been inevitable calls to impose tougher limitations
on who can move to this country, heightening debate aro...
Listen to the introductory remarks from this week's Battle of Ideas satellite at the House of St. Barnabas in London
The announcement that the UK population grew last year by half a
million – roughly the population of Edinburgh – has provoked much
discussion about whether the country will cope with an increasing demand
on resources. With half that rise coming from migration rather than
births, there have been inevitable calls to impose tougher limitations
on who can move to this country, heightening debate around free movement
in the context of Britain’s European Union membership and amid a
migrant crisis at Calais. For London, the situation is even more
pressing, with the population this year breaking its historical peak of
8.6million and expected to rise to 10 million by 2030. With UK national
house-building at record low levels – less than 150,000 new homes per
year and with soaring rents in the capital and beyond – many are
questioning whether the UK can afford an ever-expanding population.
Pro-immigration commentators counter that the UK’s growth is
testament to its economic health and that highly skilled migrants are
essential to maintaining that strength and support an increasingly
ageing population. Yet attempts to introduce Australian-style points
system of economic migration have proven to be politically fractious and
difficult to enforce. Others suggest that a radical overhaul of
Britain’s ailing infrastructure would ensure that a country which has
built on less than three per cent of its landscape has ample space.
Nonetheless, with a range of major projects ranging from fracking and
wind power through to HS2 to Heathrow’s third runway facing considerable
local and political opposition, there is plenty of pessimism
surrounding future UK capacity. Government plans to build a range of
garden cities to ease the burden on the housing sector generate
sceptical eye-rolling on all sides.
Should the UK’s continued population growth be a cause for
celebration, or seen as a worrying burden on stretched resources? Will
governmental plans to decentralise authority on planning and policy lead
to a range of national powerhouses to ease the strain on the capital,
or will it only encourage greater Nimbyism? Would tearing up Britain’s
notoriously restrictive planning regulations liberate the private sector
or lead to chaotic, unmanaged development? Does the UK face normal
pressures for a nation of its size and development, or are we suffering
from a lack of ambition?
SPEAKERS
Tom Chance
housing spokesperson, Green Party
Jonn Elledge
editor, CityMetric; writer, New Statesman
David Goodhart
director, Demos Integration Hub; author, The British Dream: successes and failures of post-war immigration
Phoebe Griffith
associate director, migration, integration and communities, IPPR
Alp Mehmet
retired diplomat; vice-chairman, Migrationwatch UK
Karl Sharro
architect; writer; Middle East commentator; co-author, Manifesto: Towards a New Humanism in Architecture
CHAIR
David Bowden
associate director, Institute of Ideas
To find out more about this year’s festival and buy tickets visit the Battle of Ideas website.
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