But I'm not naive. I know a lot of people won't agree with me. Many British people are indeed worried about immigration and the effects it has on their communities and lives. Doubtless many people base their thinking on personal experience. But perhaps, just perhaps, perception matters too – the perception that immigration is a problem even if you don't directly experience any negative consequences yourself. There's evidence, for instance, that the less personal acquaintance with migrants a person has, the more worried they are about immigration.