Writing in August 2004 in the New Statesman magazine, David Nicholson-Lord highlights the desire of many skilled, talented people to get out of the UK. Here are some of the figures he quoted, and others from a variety of sources:
* Polls by both ICM and YouGov found that more than half of Britain's adult population wanted to emigrate or had seriously considered emigrating.
* Even the young seem unhappy with the UK. A poll of almost eleven thousand 16-29 year-olds in The Face magazine found almost half thought 'the UK was a worse place to live now than it was five years ago'. An astonishingly high 83% percent wanted to leave the country.
* A survey by Alliance & Leicester International put the proportion of Britons "considering moving abroad to work or live" at a third. The bank projects that between now and 2020 six million British citizens will emigrate.
* Britain's emigration problem has been all but ignored, partly because Britain has more people arriving than departing. So the UK must be doing something right?
* The number of people leaving the UK permanently has increased from 266,000 in 1993 to 359,000 in 2002.
* The people leaving Britain are getting older, including a growing proportion of the professional classes. A disproportionate number of them come from London and, to a lesser extent, the south-east. The fastest-growing destinations are Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
* The Alliance & Leicester study found that the top reason for emigration was a better quality of life. Destinations that place a "greater value on leisure and lifestyle" were the most favoured.
* Nicholson-Lord believes enforced multiculturalism may be causing emigration. In 2002, more than half of arrivals in Britain were making for London and the south-east, while 47 per cent of departures were leaving London and the south-east.
* The UK 2001 census discovered 800,000 fewer young men than previously thought. The critical factor, according to government statisticians, appears to be emigration.
* The desire of many of Britain's professionals to live elsewhere may ultimately benefit New Zealand. A recent BBC online poll found that New Zealand is now rivalling traditionally more popular (and closer) countries. Readers, asked to select which out of six countries they would "most like to emigrate to" responded:
Preferred British Emigration Destinations
| Location | Preferred by: |
| USA | 24% |
| Australia | 20% |
| New Zealand | 19% |
| Canada | 17% |
| Spain | 14% |
| Brazil | 5% |
Bye Bye Blighty
