YP Comment: Don't pull up the drawbridge

However it also vindicates those older voters who contend that public services are at breaking point due to immigration. By way of example, the latest influx is in excess of the 256,406 people living in Hull at the time of the last census.

And these figures also give credence to the argument that priority should be given to indigenous residents whose unemployed status is a financial drain on the welfare system. If only it was this simple.

A record 31.84 million people are currently in work and many employers are struggling to recruit able and willing staff. Not only is this a reminder that Britain’s 1.6 million jobless need to reassess their skills, competencies and lifestyles, but that the UK can’t afford to become isolationist as a result of Brexit. The country’s future prosperity depends on Britain being attractive to the brightest and best, whether they are innovators ahead of their time or world-leading surgeons.

These people won’t be found on the dole queue. They need to be inspired and nurtured. And, in some cases, they will be living abroad. It begs this question: will supremely talented individuals move here if their spouse is, for whatever reason, not earning £18.600 a year, the threshold rubber-stamped by the Supreme Court this week, because they’re looking after the couple’s children? Yes, Britain’s immigration policy has been left unchecked for too long – but it is also not in the country’s best long-term interests to pull up the drawbridge.

Migration falls - but will there now be a labour shortage?