Should controls on EU immigration be tougher?

WHO can argue against an immigration policy that says, within limits, anyone who boosts the economy is welcome, but freeloaders are not?

JOHN COLLINS, Chelmsford, Essex. HOW can this overcrowded island allow in a quarter of a million extra people yearon-year indefinitely? Unless immigration is curbed, we shall be facing housing shortages, stresses on the NHS and strain on our infrastructure.

PAUL FARROW, Lincoln. IT IS ridiculous that leaders of British industry are wringing their hands over leaked Government plans for migration. Before we joined the EU, we did not clamour for foreign nationals to work here, except to pick flowers and fruit.

ALASTAIR DUNCAN, Totnes, Devon. THE Government’s migration plans would be a disaster if implemented. The Home Office has shown it is incapable of dealing with non-EU immigration, as orders to leave the UK wrongly sent to long-time British residents prove. Extending this system to EU immigration will cause uncertainty for firms and public services hiring foreign workers. EU migrants do not harm natives’ wages or job prospects. They pay more in taxes than they cost in benefits, effectively subsidising public services. Curbing their numbers will mean higher taxes or deeper cuts just to keep the public finances at their current level. Services that rely on foreign workers, such as schools and the NHS, will face shortages of key workers.

SAM BOWMAN, Adam Smith Institute, London SW1. HOW can increasing the population be good for the economy? It might create short-term growth, but the cost of public services needs to be factored in. You can’t moan about traffic jams or new homes gobbling up the countryside if you don’t accept immigration controls. It’s not about racism, it’s about numbers.