Migration pressures will only grow as climate change, conflict and demographics collide. Without bold, long-term action, Britain faces a future of crisis management, says George Fergusson

The most rose-tinted eye must now acknowledge that we have an immigration crisis. The net arrival of nearly a million people, unplanned, in 2022-23 is a challenge at many levels. The arrival of thousands, at immense risk, with frequent deaths and against not just the law but the concentrated effort of successive governments, is tragic and disconcerting. Legitimate concerns, exaggeration by some of the traditional media, let alone online media, and the competitive exploitation of a receptive audience by some politicians, threaten our political and social cohesion.

Something must be done. In adopting part of the Danish model, with its attractive social democratic coating, the Government is addressing a tricky dilemma: how to reduce the numbers of immigrants and refugees, to meet political challenges, without messing up our economic needs or our moral and legal obligations. Uncomfortable measures to meet popular demands risk internal party splits and shedding votes to the left. They may briefly affect the immigration figures........

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