Andy Burnham’s contribution (Let’s take back control of the immigration debate, 17 December) is sane and helpful but incomplete. The EU principle of freedom of movement is not incompatible with Britain’s interest in managing immigration. The issue is not mobility itself, but whether mobility involves entitlement to full citizenship rights – social security, residence, healthcare, employment, etc. Citizenship is a political, economic and social status, as the sociologist TH Marshall argued long ago, involving more than possessing a document, or even paying taxes. Citizenship involves a range of obligations, and rights. This broader conception of citizenship is widely shared throughout Europe, and provides a starting point for a more realistic discussion of migration than simple numbers.

Several EU member states share an interest in managing migration. In addition to the concern in other west European countries, it is not in Poland’s interest for Polish graduates to be washing cars in Britain, or in Romania’s interest for its graduates to be working in Italy, Spain or the UK. EU discussions of freedom of movement in 2003-04 were based on little serious research. It was expected that migration flows within Europe would even out over time, with much short-term migration and long-term migration in the low thousands. The Blair government was so confident that migration would not pose any problem for Britain that it rejected the transition period adopted elsewhere (except for Ireland and Sweden).

It was also expected that per capita GDP growth in eastern Europe would reduce the incentive for migration. However, despite structural adjustment funds from the EU and western capital investment, GDP per capita remains lower in several east European countries than in western Europe, supporting migration push.

Migration flows are a matter of concern for all EU member states, and capable of negotiation, within the framework of freedom of movement. Brexit will be deeply damaging to the UK, economically, politically and even culturally, and to Europe. It is a tragic example of solving a manageable problem at the expense of creating a much bigger one.

Roderick Martin

(Formerly professor at Central European University Business School, Budapest) Winchester

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