No Tory will say that aloud, though a few MPs have privately shared those views with me. Labour, meanwhile, is hyper-focused on border control. Instead of recognising the contributions migrants past and present are making to the economy and our public services, Wes Streeting brands the use of overseas NHS workers “immoral” and opposes their right to bring their families over. Keir Starmer promises to be even tougher than Rishi Sunak, Suella Braverman and Priti Patel.

The pandemic had a massive global impact. But, ponders The Economist, “whereas other economies bounced back […] in Britain, uniquely, [economic inactivity] continues to climb… What’s going on?” What indeed. 2.7 million “inactive” people under 25 are students, the majority of whom do not want a job. The 3.5 million over-50s out of the job market are ill or retired early. Few early retirees want to return to work. Among 25-to 49-year-olds, 1.1 million people are family carers, about a million of them women. Prohibitive childcare keeps many at home.The powerful could facilitate this kind of intercultural exchange to improve economic engagement. But radical thinking scares them. Instead, Labour and Tory figures have joined the anti-immigrant band, with lead singer Nigel Farage, dissonantly singing “Keep them Out!”. The noise will fill the air; gullible voters will be seduced. And the country will hobble on, economically hindered, because it does not believe in the restorative and energising effect of new blood coming into an old country.

Brits are losing their work ethic as migrants work harder than ever.

The battle between the Conservatives and Labour to show they are tough on migration risks damaging sectors that are vital to the economy, industry figures have warned.

Rishi Sunak unveiled a Conservative pledge to cap visas awarded to migrant workers on Monday, promising “bold action to reduce immigration” amid pressure from a Reform party reinvigorated by the return of Nigel Farage as leader.

The prime minister said the number of migrant work visas would fall each year under a Conservative government, although he did not set out a number for the proposed reduction.

There’s an awful lot to talk about in the 2024 General Election campaign, but with a month to go, immigration is proving to be a key battleground.

The issue is made up of two distinct parts: illegal immigration, most visibly the small boats crossing the English Channel; and legal immigration, which largely revolves around visas.

According to the Conservatives and Labour, the number of both illegal and legal migrants coming into the UK is too high – but they disagree on what to do about it. Ministers have pointed to figures from the Office for National Statistics showing a reduction in net migration last year as evidence their current efforts are working – though the total the previous year, in 2022, was historically high.