BRITISH EXODUS!

Nearly 700 Britons quit the country every day last year, it was claimed yesterday.

A record 250,000 migrated abroad in 2007, most because they wanted to flee the levels of crime and tax in the UK.

The astonishing exodus is a fifth more than the 207,000 who went in 2006, and a jump of 70 per cent from the 149,000 who left in 1997.

It is the equivalent to 684 every day, or one every two minutes, according to Government figures set to be released later this year and published in the News of the World.

Meanwhile the numbers arriving in the UK is soaring, hitting over half a million in 2006. Most of the Britons who moved abroad went to Australia, New Zealand, France, Spain or the U.S.

Sir Andrew Green, chairman of Migrationwatch, said: "The issue at stake is quality of life.

"The population of England alone will go up by nearly 10 million in the next 75 years and people are realising that we cannot absorb immigrants on that scale.

"There's a good case for limited immigration but the uncontrolled immigration that we see at the moment is affecting our quality of life, so it's hardly surprising that more and more people are considering a move."

Paul Arthur, from the Emigration Group which helps Britons settle overseas, predicted the number of people turning their back on the UK would continue to soar.

He said: "We have had record enquiries about emigration over this winter, with people not just wanting to escape the bleak weather, but seeking a whole change of lifestyle.

"Many are unhappy with the levels of crime, high taxes and the general way of life.

"Overseas there are more career opportunities, particularly in Australia and New Zealand which have huge shortfalls in skilled labour.'

The breakdown from the Government's Office for National Statistics in 2006 revealed that the number of foreigners coming to live in Britain went up by nearly ten per cent that year.

Nearly a quarter of a million of those arriving said they came for jobs and more than 150,000 more arrived as students.

Fewer than one in five were from Eastern European countries. They were outnumbered by migrants from Commonwealth countries in the Indian sub-continent and Africa.

Most new arrivals were heading for London and the South East.

Including returning Britons, 591,000 people came to live in the UK in 2006.

The figure for net immigration - the number who arrived minus the number who left - showed the population growing by 191,000.

The total number of people who migrated from the UK last year was 400,000, but many of these were foreigners returning abroad.

Another government study last year predicted that the population of Britain could soar to more than 100million in just over 60 years' time.

The projections by the Actuary's Department, a specialist organisation operating under the wing of the Treasury, say what will happen if the upward pressure on population continues at the highest possible levels.

(British exodus)

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