First of all we need to set out who from the EU we welcome. I strongly favour continued free movement for tourists, business visitors, students, genuine marriage partners and retired people. This would minimise social and economic disruption with our European neighbours and would enable us to remain an active and engaged partner in Europe after we have left the Union .

Some 35 million EU nationals arrive in the UK every year. Of course, only those who intend to stay more than a year are counted as migrants. But the first key fact is that roughly 70 per cent of these EU migrants come here to work. This, therefore, is where we have to look to get the numbers down and reduce the strain on our public services and infrastructure.