So many Brits now live abroad they're causing immigration debates

Graduates are leaving the UK in their droves Getty Images
Why are so many of us leaving Britain? Is it the crap weather? The lack of affordable housing? The far-reaching ramifications of colonialism smoothing our way as we migrate around the world? A combination of the above? Whatever the reason, according to a new report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Britain has a greater proportion of its citizens living overseas than any other European country.

As a recent British economic immigrant to the Netherlands, it doesn’t surprise me that the issue of British-born immigrants is widely ignored by anti-immigration factions in the UK. It’s a highly inconvenient truth that 3.97 million British citizens were living abroad in 2010 - and since then their numbers have grown to the point that the House of Lords are currently debating whether overseas Brits should be able to vote in the EU referendum.We are many and mighty, with enough voting clout to swing a decision. No wonder Ukip are reluctant to draw attention to us.

Madeleine Sumption, the director of the University of Oxford Migration Observatory, has been quoted in The Times saying: “We normally think of the UK mainly as a destination for migrants, but it also has a long history of emigration... The OECD data suggest that Brits are more mobile than many other countries with similar levels of development, like Germany, France or the United States.”So many Brits now live abroad that they're causing immigration debates. Oh, the irony | Voices | The Independent