Almost a million people a year coming into the country in a year, the great majority from outside Europe, is a problem. Of course many will want to work, many will have skills, many will be doing work that an increasingly workshy native population doesn’t want to do. But by virtue of coming from outside Britain, outside Europe, they will not be like-for-like replacements for the Brits who are leaving. About three quarters are from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Eritrea, Afghanistan, and many other countries. They will come from a different kind of society, often with a different language, some with a social and religious background that means they don’t readily assimilate into local communities, unless those communities are already immigrant. They will need housing, schools, healthcare; all the things that the rest of us do. As they get older, they, like the rest of us, will need pensions and social care. If there were an audit of the benefits of millions of people coming to the country from outside the EU, often to settle permanently, versus the costs, I’m not sure it would look like a brilliant bargain.
