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How much is enough?

For too long we have allowed xenophobes to set the terms of the immigration debate. We do need controls over who comes, but better ones

By Paul Collier  
September 18, 2013
October 2013

The queue for visas outside the British Embassy in Sofia, 2006, before Bulgaria joined the European Union in 2007. (© Rex/Ray Tang)

British immigration policy clearly needs overhauling. Desperate not to give succour to xenophobes and racists, social scientists have strained every muscle to show that immigration is good for everyone. Inadvertently, this has allowed the terms of the immigration debate to be set by the xenophobes, and for the question to be asked: “Is immigration good or bad?” This is the wrong question. We should be asking not whether…

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Paul Collier

Paul Collier’s latest book with John Kay, “Greed is Dead: Politics after Individualism,” published by Allen Lane, is out now

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