We must make the case for immigration

Britain needs high levels of immigration if it is to thrive, says Matthew Lynn – regardless of whether or not we decide to join the single market.

16-9-8-Polish-1200

Entrepreneurial Poles boost our economy

The UK is about to start the hard work of working out what we actually mean by Brexit. Of course, that will depend on what the rest of Europe is willing to offer. But it also means figuring out what we need. There are two big issues. One is access to the single market, the other immigration. The two issues are usually linked, mainly because the EU insists that they should be. Big business, which has a lot at stake in this debate, regularly insists that we need access to the single market, and that we will have to accept freedom of movement for labour because that is one of the rules of the club.

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Matthew Lynn

Matthew Lynn is a columnist for Bloomberg, and writes weekly commentary syndicated in papers such as the Daily Telegraph, Die Welt, the Sydney Morning Herald, the South China Morning Post and the Miami Herald. He is also an associate editor of Spectator Business, and a regular contributor to The Spectator. Before that, he worked for the business section of the Sunday Times for ten years. 

He has written books on finance and financial topics, including Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis and The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031. Matthew is also the author of the Death Force series of military thrillers and the founder of Lume Books, an independent publisher.