The bill for migration must be shared

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reports that net migration to the UK was 327,000 in the 12 months up to the end of March. Astronomical immigration numbers have become so familiar that many readers will feel resignation rather than astonishment. What does grab the attention is the proportion of births in 2015 from foreign-born mothers. In some areas, they amount to three quarters of all newborns. In Newham, east London, the proportion was 76.5 per cent. In Slough it was 68 per cent.

This is a dimension to immigration that sometimes gets overlooked by its cheerleaders. Economists and politicians making the case for free movement say that newcomers can fill jobs, pay taxes and contribute towards the public purse. This may be true, but childbirth puts burdens on the native population. Of course, the babies grow up and can become productive adults. But for the first 18 years of their lives they place added pressure on welfare, hospitals and schools.

What can be done? More than the Government is currently doing. The 2015 Conservative manifesto pledged to “cut annual net migration to the tens of thousands.” Since then, Tories have broadly argued that achieving this has been made difficult by membership of the EU – ignoring the fact that migration from outside the EU runs at about 188,000, and that this figure is well within the control of the Government. Theoretically, all Britain has to do is say that non-EU migration must cease and it will have to cease.

Arguably this would not be a good thing – it would rupture our historical relationship with Commonwealth countries while giving an unfair advantage to EU workers. It would be better to anchor immigration reform in the Brexit negotiations. The Tories will presumably seek an agreement to restore sovereignty over all areas of migration so that the Government can then control the numbers coming in as is deemed necessary.

In the meantime, Theresa May should also revisit a promise to revive the Migration Impacts Fund. The ONS’s data show that the costs of migration fall more heavily on public services in some parts of the country than others. If the Government is moving so slowly to cut numbers then it has to direct resources more effectively to where they are needed, and the NHS might be a necessary recipient given the rise in births. Britain is changing. Public policy needs to keep up.