Call it the Rwandan two-step. The government that has a deliberately brutal policy on migrants crossing the Channel is simultaneously implementing a sensibly open immigration regime that should mean more foreign nationals come to Britain this year than in 2016.
The contrast between the Johnson government’s performative nastiness towards would-be refugees and its low-key liberalism on economic migration is striking. It will also be increasingly important to a country whose need for migrant workers is only going to grow.
Back in 2016, anyone suggesting Brexit would lead to higher levels of immigration would have been scorned, not least by Brexiteers who now sit in cabinet. They were clear that when Britain had “taken back control”, they would use it to reduce the number of foreign
