Wickham's musings from Chalke

We seem incapable of keeping illegal immigrants out. Most are undoubtedly economic migrants and a system of sharing asylum seekers more rationally around the EU hasn’t yet been agreed.

Whether immigration is legal or illegal, we have a housing problem.

Migrationwatch UK says that in the next twenty years one new house will have to be built for every four already existing in London, the south-east and south-west of England. This is a staggering number and raises the other issue of the drift to the south where work opportunities are more abundant.

We need a much greater effort to revitalise the north of the country – there are plenty of old industrial areas crying out for redevelopment – housing or industry.

Travel by car, train or plane is unlikely to get any easier in the next decade and the south will take the brunt of the congestion problems. Now that video-conferencing facilities are becoming more available, either within companies or in special centres for hire, there should be less need for the south to expand uncontrollably.

I know the problem second-hand. Colleagues of mine who worked for branch offices in Middlesbrough and Scunthorpe were asked to work temporarily in the London office so they moved down into rented houses. After a year or so when they asked about moving back north they were told that there was no work for them there. So they reluctantly had to mortgage themselves up to the hilt and settle permanently in the London commuter belt, travelling north at weekends to see friends and family. They feel exiled!