Do you think migration is a big issue to the people of Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr?

Candidates looking for your support have been invited to share their views on a range of issues.

As part of our election coverage ahead of the poll on Thursday we asked all candidates a range of questions, with a theme based collection from all candidates below. You can also read individual answers to all the questions here on our Election 24 page, plus links to party manifesto, supplied bios for candidates and links to find out where exactly your polling station is!

Question: Do you think migration is a big issue to the people of Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr, and if so, why? Summarise your views.

Migration is not such a big issue here as in other parts of the UK, but is still an issue. We are not close to the locations where migrants tend to enter the country and so we have fewer seeking refuge here, but we have historically seen fewer people of foreign extraction living in Wales, and the lack of familiarity sometimes leads to fear or distrust.
I believe we must act with compassion towards all people in need, and should at the same time have a fair asylum process that discriminates between economic migrants and genuine refugees. In the case of genuine refugees fleeing war or terror, we need to work with the international community to establish safe routes, so that people trafficking is ended and that we offer fair refuge in the UK for these most in need.
What is needed is a fair, just, transparent and efficient asylum process and we would work with the international community to achieve this.

Migration is a big issue to the people of Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr, but perhaps not in the way people may think. We actually have a massive brain drain problem here. The population of our constituency is both ageing and shrinking. This is a massive problem, not only does it mean fewer people to fill jobs, but in the long term it means public services may have to be cut as there are fewer people using them and fewer tax-paying working-age people to support them.

Many of my friends and family have had to move away to find better work, despite not wanting to. This needs to change if our area is to thrive in the future and will be one of my top priorities to bring investment and good quality jobs into the constituency to keep our young people here.

I believe that there are multiple issues around migration.
We have a government who promised to reduce it, but instead repeatedly broke the record for it, because they cut the budgets and sacked the staff responsible for processing applications!
However, I also believe that this issue is distorted by those who wish to distract our attention from the Cost of Living Crisis and the damage they’ve wrought upon the country over the last decade or so. Whilst it does come up on the doorstep, it comes up nowhere near as often as the Cost of Living Crisis, but this does not correlate with the media narrative we’re often fed by some outlets.
Outward migration is a massive problem in Montgomeryshire as young people, who want to stay in their community, often migrate outwards due to a lack of housing and a lack of opportunity.
I would also like to speak up for our migrant communities who have enriched our area and helped to ensure that vital services and the local economy can continue functioning effectively.

It is a issue which is hyped by some political forces to create fear and uncertainty for their own political gain. It is imperative that a mature conversation happens on such topics. The reality is essential services such as the NHS is in dire need of migrant staff to plug the employment skills shortages. However if we are serious about tackling the wider issue of population movement then we have to tackle the Climate change issues which are facing many countries thus forcing people to look for new hope and future and also consider the effect of such actions as supplying bombs and interfering in other countries in the Middle East which leads to destruction of those countries and movement of people. We reap what we sow.

I do, but the effects on this region are really secondary because its level of migration is relatively small compared to our urban centres. The secondary effects are the housing pressures, which have led to an escalation of house prices and rents everywhere, and a scarcity of skilled professionals able to staff our hospitals and our schools (because in the short run, supply of these public services is fixed; and expensive to expand in the long term, which in this country usually means it never happens!)

No response to our Q&A has been received

You can read more Q&A answers here on our Election 24 page along with more election information – remember to GO VOTE ON THURSDAY!

Note: Unlike some publications Wrexham.com does not accept any political advertising. Our election pages also should be devoid of any advertising. All candidate promotion on this site has been provided for free with the same offer to every candidate. Anyone who wishes to use our election coverage content (text, video or images) please feel free, all we ask is a link back to this site if it is used online, or an equivalent prominent credit if in print or other mediums. We would also request that you use it without misrepresenting the context of candidate answers.