It beggars belief, at a time when immigration continues to be a running sore in British society – not least because of the State’s inability to control the nation’s borders – anyone in Government should think it a wise idea to throw open our doors to 450 million citizens across Europe. And, by the way, that figure now includes around 3.5 million people from countries such as Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq who, since Britain left the Single Market in 2020, have been granted an EU passport and would, if free movement were to return, have the right to move to Britain.
One does not need to be some rabid racist or possess the powers of a clairvoyant to believe that a new influx of migrants would, in the current economic and social climate, heap further pressure on our creaking infrastructure, deepen existing social tensions, and exert further downward pressure on wages across a number of industries.
The Prime Minister might also want to consider such a development would almost certainly lead to a draining of support in Labour’s traditional working-class heartlands – just as the calamitous second referendum policy did at the 2019 general election – with Nigel Farage and Reform the most likely beneficiaries this time around.
This is a reality which some “Red Wall” Labour MPs have recognised. In some cases, these MPs were passionate Remainers. But they know any return to free movement would go down like a lead balloon in their constituencies.