A very merry Christmas to all, and a happy and prosperous new year. In the spirit of wishing goodwill to all men, both friends and otherwise, I hope in particular that 2008 can be the year Kenny Richey returns to the UK and has the opportunity to live some of the life he's been deprived of over the past two decades.

At this time of year, when people always seem so much more tolerant of each other, may I also express a hope, with slightly less optimism, that 2008 is the year we start talking sensibly about immigration. There is nothing sensible about point systems or quotas or English tests of deportation of foreign criminals or Campsfield, though its almost taken for granted that there is. It seems whenever we talk about immigration, politicians like to focus on the "practical" issues or the "economic" issues, though these are usually clouded in half-truths, propaganda and innuendo. In my mind, though, the right to the freedom of movement, and the right to the opportunity of prosperity, regardless of the patch of land you were fortunate or unfortunate enough to be born on will always be a moral issue.

However, if we are going to do this the old-fashioned way, then let me say the following. In general, it would be fair to say that immigrant labour is more motivated and productive than the homegrown equivalent, that children of immigrant families, especially from Asia, outperform the children of British families, and that they are no less likely to pay their taxes. There are low skilled and high skilled jobs that all need filling and the country is better off if the most able person gets the job, regardless of background. And if being able to speak English makes a person more suitable for the job, then telling people they need to learn the language is probably unnecessary. If they are most suitable for work without good English, then telling people they need to learn the language is a waste of resources. That would be the "economics".

If we open the borders, illegal immigration will drop to zero in a minute. People who can enter a country freely tend not to need the help of people smugglers or druglords, and are less likely to end up in slavery or forced prostitution. Immigrants may be doctors, nurses, teachers, bus drivers, train drivers and builders, all of whom would probably be employed by the hospitals, schools, public transport services and housing development that are supposed to burst under the weight of all the new doctors, nurses, teachers, bus drivers, train drivers and builders we keep letting in. Social cohesion, if that really is a worry, will only be solved by engagement within communities. Banning foreigners from coming, or making them pay a bond for visiting families here, won't help at all, and may even make the problem worse. That, for those keeping count, is the "practical".

A little to the left, I guess.