New arrivals are set to push the population to 72.5 million but the numbers matter less than how well people fit in once here

Last week some startling numbers hit the headlines. If the Office for National Statistics is correct, net migration will add five million people to these islands in the span of a decade. That will account for almost all population growth in that time, driving us up to 72.5 million by 2032.

Is it good news or bad? Many commentators reacted with alarm: there is already a great deal of strain on housing, education and health services. But others like the idea. They point out that birthrates are falling across the world, and that Britain, like other countries, is due to get increasingly decrepit with time. We will eventually have to live off the life force of skilled young people from overseas, over whom everyone else will be competing.