Nigel Farage has insisted the UK has not really spoken about legal immigration before.

Nigel Farage has insisted that now is the time to talk about the real impact of legal immigration, because there’s been no national debate on the topic before.

While launching Reform UK’s new plan to scrap indefinite leave to remain for new migrants if they ever get elected, the party leader said: “There has not been a proper debate on legal immigration because all the so-called main political parties have agreed – both Labour and Conservative governments have been happy to have open-door migration.”

He pitched Reform as the only party willing to look into the sticky topic.

But debates over migration – both “illegal” and legal – have been raging in the UK for years.

Even though the UK has only been a country of net immigration since 1994, according to Migration Policy, managing our borders is hardly a new topic.

Here’s the proof.

1. Conservatives’ opposition to European immigration under New Labour

When Tony Blair ushered in more migrants from eastern Europe, the Conservatives ran campaign billboards in the 2005 general election saying: “It’s not racist to impose limits on immigration...Are you thinking what........

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