Immigration must be matched with investment in UK infrastructure to ease pressures | Larry Elliott

Net migration has benefits but has done nothing to address downward trend in per capita GDP

Imagine that during the election campaign Rishi Sunak announced that by 2038 he expected migration to boost the population by 3.7m - more than the current number of people living in Wales. What would your response be?

It's a question worth asking, because such an increase is precisely what has been seen since David Cameron pledged in 2010 to reduce net immigration to the tens of thousands annually. In the current parliament alone, net migration to the UK has been 2m.