Andrew Vine: Time for a full debate on immigration, the taboo subject that will not go away

This was the subject that dared not speak its name, any discussion of it stymied by the loudly-proclaimed slur that to do so was somehow racist. It was an absurd accusation that stifled rational debate for far too long.

This politically-correct nonsense ultimately did more to breed racism than challenge it by taking discussion of immigration out of sensible mainstream debate and pushing it to the fringes.

The potential drawbacks or benefits of allowing vast numbers of people from overseas to settle in Britain needed to be aired, as did questions over the costs to the state, and over social cohesion.

The public wanted to talk about all these things – but what they got from the political class was the equivalent of a child sticking their fingers in their ears and chanting “La, La, La” to blot out the sound.

The supreme example of this attitude came in the brooding shape of Gordon Brown in the run-up to the 2010 general election, cutting and running from Labour voter Gillian Duffy who buttonholed him about immigration.

Being caught on microphone shamefully and incorrectly branding her a “bigoted woman” as his car sped away helped scupper Mr Brown’s chances of remaining Prime Minister, and in hindsight, marked a turning point in political willingness to discuss the subject.

But now every politician wants to talk about immigration, because it is at the heart of Britain’s decision to stay in or leave the EU.

That talk will reach its crescendo by the height of summer because it’s a safe bet that the calm seas and long daylight hours in southern Europe will see a new, and bigger than ever, exodus of asylum seekers from the Middle East.

Immigration’s polarising effect was brought into sharp focus a few days ago, with the release of official figures showing that the number of EU migrant workers in Britain has surged beyond two million for the first time.

Such a psychological milestone is a headache for the “in” camp and a gift for the “out” coalition, which is bound to question whether the 215,000 people who arrived last year, taking the total to 2.04m, have also taken jobs from Britons.

But this milestone also needs to mark a new stage in a sensible debate, free of knee-jerk reactions and prejudice, about the level of immigration Britain can accommodate – or needs.

Because these two million people are not a drain on the state, but working and – presumably – paying their taxes. This is one of the thorniest aspects of the immigration question. Just how reliant has Britain become on arrivals from abroad to deliver public services, or make the wheels of industry turn?

A thought-provoking set of figures was produced last year by a think-tank, the Health and Social Care Information Centre, which studied the NHS.

It found that 14 per cent of all clinical staff were foreigners, and the proportion was even higher amongst doctors, at 26 per cent. If more than a quarter of NHS doctors were suddenly to vanish back to the countries of their birth, the service – which struggles as it is – would collapse.

It is not just health that has become reliant on migrant workers. In some parts of the country, they form the backbone of agricultural labour.

Talk to employers off-the-record and there is a wealth of anecdotal evidence that migrant workers often come as a breath of fresh air – willing to do jobs regarded with disdain by British counterparts content to live on benefits.

None of which lessens the necessity of having a frank debate over questions of how many new arrivals Britain can sensibly accommodate, integration or the legitimate concerns of communities which have changed before the eyes of long-standing residents.

There is a risk that the EU referendum will reinforce entrenched positions.

That must not happen. If Britain is to live with immigration – as it inevitably has to at some level – and impose sensible controls, this needs to be a nuanced and informed debate.

It must heed equally the voices of public services and industry for whom migrant workers have been a boon, and those who are concerned. The politicians are finally ready to talk. They also need to listen.