Tunnel vision

According to The Economist’s latest monthly issues poll, conducted by Ipsos MORI, immigration is now one of the main concerns for Conservative and Labour voters alike. Indeed, it is now singled out by 50% of respondents as among the most important matters worrying them. But if colourful reports of a “swarm” of African migrants “marauding” across Europe heading for Calais in hopes of reaching England have raised the heat over immigration, they shouldn’t have. Asylum seekers and plans to send British police to Calais dominate headlines and imaginations, but not the migration figures. Although the public thinks that asylum seekers make up the largest share of Britain’s immigrants (after workers), the biggest group is in fact students. Just 8% of the country’s immigrants are asylum seekers. Calais is largely a red herring: it may be full of stories, but they do not say much about immigration into Britain.