Continental Drift: UK Paid $4.3Mln Per Day for Migration From EU in 2015

European immigration into the United Kingdom cost the country as much as 3 million pounds ($4.3 million) every day last year, a new report revealed Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Telegraph cited a report by the MigrationWatch UK, a policy research organization, as saying the overall cost of immigration from the European Union cost the United Kingdom 1.2 billion pounds in 2015. This value was calculated by deducting the cost of benefits and public services from their collective tax contributions.

"This report shows that EU migration, taken as a whole, is not making the positive fiscal contribution that has so often been claimed. Furthermore, it is adding to the rapidly increasing pressures on housing and public services," Lord Green of Deddington, Migrationwatch’s chairman, said, as quoted by the media outlet.

Migration is currently a hot topic in the United Kingdom as it prepares to hold a referendum on its EU membership on June 23.

The so-called 'Brexit' vote follows a deal reached between UK Prime Minister David Cameron and the other leaders of the 27 EU member states granting the UK special status within the bloc. The membership campaign officially started in early April.

Supporters of Brexit argue that EU membership has eroded Britain’s independence to legislate, direct its economy and control its borders. Opponents warn that leaving the European Union could deeply harm the country’s economy.