It is therefore vital for the Prime Minister to achieve an agreement with other European leaders that offers a fighting chance of being able to control the mass movement of people. Given that public budgets will continue to be screwed down, an unprecedented population increase will clearly have massive consequences for our public services and infrastructure. For all the key services – housing, schools and health – voters know how tough it will be to meet the needs of the existing population, let alone the 10 million (or 16 million or more) newcomers of the next 25 years.