Why the panic over rising immigration? The post-Brexit system is working | Jonathan Portes

Wages remain a problem, but rising numbers of skilled non-EU workers appear to be helping the NHS, social care, and indeed the overall UK economy

The UK public policy landscape is littered with disasters. From record NHS waiting lists to the de facto legalisation of petty crime and serious sexual assault, to the environmental damage created by the privatised water and sewerage companies.

With immigration figures on Thursday likely to show that net migration in 2022 was the highest level on record, it's tempting for politicians and commentators to add immigration to this list - although many have already done so on the basis of what, charitably, are wild, uninformed guesstimates. For Labour, immigration levels play into the narrative that 13 years of Tory rule have broken the country. For the ethno-nationalist right inside and outside government, well represented at the National Conservative conference last week, the idea that our culture and national identity are threatened by an influx of mostly dark-skinned foreigners is foundational.

Jonathan Portes is professor of economics and public policy at King's College London and a former senior civil servant