Those opposing immigration – and especially the EU policy of granting

freedom of movement to all EU citizens – argue that low-skilled workers

from the relatively impoverished East are now driving down wages in the

West. Then there is the spectre of the overseas benefits claimant,

taking out without ever giving anything in return. The pro-immigration

side counters that immigration is actually good for the economy.

Migrants in the UK pay more in tax than they consume in public services,

not least because inward migrants are more likely to be working age

than the population in general. So does immigration help or hinder the

UK economy?

of immigrants taking advantage of the exhaustion of the seven-year ban

on immigration from Romania and Bulgaria at the start of the year may

not have come to pass, there are still plenty who claim that immigration

is a big problem. To respond to public disquiet, the government has

concentrated its efforts on non-EU immigrants. But for all its talk of

caps and limits, the government seems incapable of enforcing anything of

the sort. And for some, that is exactly the problem. EU rules

effectively mean the UK government does not control its own borders,

rendering the debate about whether immigration is a bane or a boon

somewhat moot.

pro-immigration side is not so much freedom of movement, but the

unsavoury associations of anti-immigration arguments. It is claimed that

anti-immigration parties like UKIP will prompt ‘kneejerk xenophobia’,

or exacerbate people’s ‘ill-informed prejudices’. Is this a

pro-immigration position or anti-masses sentiment? Where are those

willing to defend immigration on the grounds that everyone should be

entitled to freedom of movement regardless of their passport or their

skill-set? Is there a case for giving up on controlling borders

altogether? Conversely, are arguments against immigration too defensive?

Are secure borders essential to maintaining national sovereignty? Is it

time for a different kind of debate?

Speakers

David Goodhart

chair, Demos' Advisory Group; author, The British Dream

Philippe Legrain

visiting senior fellow, LSE’s European Institute; author, Immigrants: your country needs them and European Spring: Why Our Economies and Politics are in a Mess – and How to Put Them Right; former economic adviser to the President of the European Commission

Bruno Waterfield

Brussels correspondent, Daily Telegraph; co-author, No Means No

Steven Woolfe

UKIP Frontbench Spokesman on Migration and Financial Affairs

Co-ordinator EFDD Group, EU ECON Committee

Chair

Claire Fox

director, Institute of Ideas; panellist, BBC Radio 4's Moral Maze